The Stretchiest Mobians Alive 2: Welcome to Equestria
by Chaoticlover
Summary: Sonic, Sally, Maria, Daemon, Nicole/Fiona, Good Fiona, Amy, Lupe, Lobo, Knuckles, Tails, Leeta, and Lyco get sent to Equestria and there they meet with The Mane 6, The Dragons, The Diamond Dogs, and mostly The Changlings, while at the same time Spike falls in love with Sally. Credit goes to Jose Ramiro Acosta Perez.
1. Years Past

Chapter 1 - Years Past

A year has passed since Mandara, the powerful supernatural villain, had tried to conquer Mobius. And it had been a year since he was stopped by his own brother, Daemon, and the local heroes. And since the moment Daemon arrived, he had fallen in love with the elasticity powered Maria Wolf, marrying her soon after Mandara's defeat.

Through this year, a few things had changed. Maria and many other female Mobians who had gained similar powers shortly before or during Mandara's attack had gotten much better and stronger in the use of their powers. Princess Sally had even gone as far as changing her aspect, using her powers to make herself a bit taller and more feminine, and letting her hair grow considerably, giving her the aspect of a real Amazonian princess; also, she had been a lot more dedicated to royalty and political issues, since, with Mandara's defeat, and Doctor Robotnick gone for good, there had been very little threats, and those were easily faced and defeated by either her or some other Freedom Fighter.

In other words, Mobius was now a peaceful, nicer and safer place, or, in Sonic's words...

"I'M SOOOOO BORED!" Sonic complained for the hundredth time while Rotor, Tails and Nicole rolled their eyes, the blue hedgehog pacing back and forth behind them as the trio of geniuses continued working in the lab.

"Sonic, you had been pacing for hours now. You're gonna wear a hole in the floor if you continue." Tails said to his friend.

"Actually, it's not an exaggeration. I calculate it would only take one or two more hours for him to do it for real." Nicole said while giving a look at the floor behind them. Even if she was now a flesh and blood being, and no longer having computational intelligence and calculation skills, Nicole was still amazingly smart.

"Look... I'm sorry, really, but this lack of activity is killing me." Sonic sighed. "You know that this morning I was so bored I did all the chores by myself? And I mean the whole town's chores! And when I finished, I did it again!"

"Yeah, the main street had never looked this clean." Rotor chuckled.

"My point is... I need some activity to keep myself busy, or I'm going crazy. You smart guys and girl have your lab, Sally has her work as a princess, Lupe and Lobo rule their people, Daemon and Maria do... whatever newlyweds do every day (seriously, they still act as if they had married just yesterday), and so on. But I'm an adventurer, and now I have no adventures at all. You know that last month I looked for Rouge and ASKED HER to rob something so I could try to catch her?"

"Yes, we know. She stole a bag of candy." Tails chuckled. "Even Rouge had been taking it easy these days."

"Don't worry, Sonic; we're doing something that will keep us busy for a while, and by 'us', I'm including you." Rotor said to the hedgehog.

"About that, what are you Super Brains doing? You had been working on that what's-its-name for more than two months." Sonic asked them.

"Well, we had already discussed this with Sally and the others. Remember when we did all those short travels to Robotropolis after Mandara's defeat?" Tails asked Sonic while the young fox continued adjusting what seemed to be an engine.

"Yes, I went with you in case there were booby traps or some nasty surprise from Robbie." Sonic actually smiled a bit. "Heh... sentinel robots, a dozen death traps, gas bombs... even gone, Robbie left me a bit of excitement."

"Excitement for you only; I still remember that robot aiming at my head." Tails cringed.

"Anyway, we managed to 'rescue' a lot of Robotnik's information, and we had been studying it. The man was mad, but he was a mad genius; and he was working on interdimensional travel, among other projects we're not even touching." Rotor continued.

"So, you guys are working on some sort of portal?" Sonic asked; being around scientists for so long, and fighting mad science creations for almost as long, he could at least understand the basics by now.

"That's right. At first, we'll only use the portal to visualize other dimensions, but, once we make sure the travel is possible and safe, we might start exploring those places as well." Nicole explained to a, by now, very happy Sonic.

"Now that's what I'm talking about! Traveling to another world. Fighting the unknown. Defeating tyrants. Facing giant pirate gorillas, armed with laser swords and riding on armored dinosaurs..."

The trio gave him a 'What the...?' look.

"Hey, you have your dreams, I have mine." Sonic shrugged.

"Okay... well, we might give the portal the first test today. Why don't you go tell the others..." Nicole stopped talking because Sonic was already on his way to tell everyone.

"He really needs some action." Tails rolled his eyes yet chuckled.

A while later, the scientific trio was receiving Sonic, Sally, Maria, Daemon, Good Fiona, Amy, Lupe, Lobo, Knuckles, Leeta and Lyco. Sonic had told others, including Bunnie, but she was a bit busy that day and couldn't arrive, and, of course, they wouldn't invite Rouge since, even if not a real villain, she wouldn't resist the temptation of stealing some device from the lab.

"Interdimensional travel." Daemon smiled while looking at the portal. "Your science never ceases to amaze me. You guys create your own miracles."

"Thanks. A lot of this comes from your help, actually; we added our research on your magical power to Robotnick's own in order to create the portal." Tails said to the tall, muscular archangel.

"Let's start the show!" Leeta smiled while sitting in front of the portal.

"I brought popcorn!" Lyco, grinning, sat next to her sister.

"Girls, this is a very important, serious moment..." Lupe stopped talking when Sonic made a quick dash and returned with several chili dogs, a soda and a few candy bars. The female wolf sighed and rolled her eyes. "Never mind. I'll have a chili dog, please."

Amy, of course, placed herself aside Sonic; Sally just smiled at this. Even if she no longer had that kind of feelings for the blue speedster, and she knew Amy was more in control of herself these days, the princess sometimes wished she could feel about anyone like Amy did with Sonic.

Nicole and Tails positioned themselves with the rest of the group while Rotor sat aside, the walrus being the one in charge of regulating the energy while the two foxes used hand sensors to monitor the portal's activity. After a few adjustments, the portal finally turned on, and it started emanating a blue and white glow.

"Whoa... this looks so cool..." Amy, smiling, moved a bit closer to the portal.

"Yes... hey, Rotor, can you adjust the image?" Sonic, grinning, turned at the walrus.

"I know, I know. You are waitiiiiiiing." Rotor chuckled, mimicking Sonic's tone, and then gave a bit more power to the portal. The image started becoming more clear, and soon everyone could see what seemed to be a huge forest area.

"Nice... but that dimension doesn't look so different from ours..." Lobo stopped talking when looking at a flying figure. "That thing was a dragon?"

"Whoa, a dimension with dragons? Sweet. Can you improve the image and see if the place also has minotaurs, sea snakes and whatever?" Sonic asked the scientists.

"We're on it." Tails said while checking his sensor.

"Hold on... mmm... I don't like these lectures." Nicole then turned at Rotor. "Turn it off. We're having a nasty feedback here."

"I'm on... OUCH!" Rotor yelled when the control panel shocked him. Before anyone could go help him, the portal started glowing with more intensity, and they all got covered by the light.

"Someone turn it off!" Sally yelled. She and the other elastic females stretched their bodies and limbs to try getting out of the danger zone and turn off the machines but the light had a gravitational pull that caught them all. Even by using their whole strength, they couldn't move away from the portal, and it was now pulling them inside.

"Daemon, your powers!" Maria said to her husband. Daemon lost no time to use elemental attacks on the portal, but it backfired, as his powers only made the portal much stronger, and in fact Daemon was the first one sucked in. The others followed soon, with Sonic being the only one who was getting away thanks to his speed. However, when noticing his friends were getting captured by the portal, he made a quick decision.

"Rotor, you fix this thing to save us!" The hedgehog gave the walrus a push out at super speed, taking him away from the danger zone. Rotor then realized what Sonic was saying.

"Save 'us'? You're not going in there too!"

"Rotor, I was born for this type of thing." Sonic grinned before looking back at the portal. "I wanted an adventure... well, here it is."

The hedgehog dashed inside the portal, and, a moment later, the light was off... and nobody but Rotor was present.

"This is another fine mess we got ourselves in." The walrus sighed and stood up. "Time to work."

Inside the portal, all the 'travelers' were now trying to stick together, but the portal's energy was now separating them all; the only reason they were still close enough to see each other was because the elastic females were stretching to grab whoever was closer to them, and still, it seemed they'd all land very far from each other when arriving to this new dimension.

Or so it seemed, until they heard Sonic's voice.

"Hey, check this out! I can run in here!"

Despite having no visible floor or ground, Sonic was really running, and actually was faster than usual, due to the very little friction and the fact the portal's force was pulling him ahead, giving the hedgehog an extra impulse. The bad part of this was that he couldn't stop either.

"Guys, we have to stick together! Everybody, form a chain!" Sonic, being both the most used to this kind of adventure and the expert when it came to high speed traveling, took control of the situation while grabbing Amy's hand.

The pink hedgehog did as Sonic said and stretched her other hand to grab Tails, who was already being held by Leeta; when Sonic ran next to Lyco, he grabbed her as well, while Lyco stretched to grab both Maria and Daemon; Daemon used his elemental powers to create a small yet powerful tornado, using its sucking power to grab Lobo and Lupe, the female wolf stretching her free hand to grab Sally, who completed the chain by stretching to grab Nicole and Fiona.

"Sonic, can you take us back?" Lobo yelled at the blue speedster.

"Sorry, I can't... this is a one way trip! The portal is already closed at our side anyway!" Sonic replied while finally looking at the other end of the portal. "We're almost there! Those who can fly, grab someone who can't... because I have no brakes, and it seems this door opens in thin air!"

As Sonic talked, everyone looked at the portal's end; it showed the same place they had seen at the lab. At least it seemed to be a nice area, capable of sustaining life, so they didn't have to worry about landing in a toxic wasteland or an active volcano.

"At least we're gonna crash-land in some nice spot." Leeta commented while using her powers to start forming large bird-like wings.

"Yes, a nice spot with DRAGONS." Tails groaned, the young fox starting to move his tails in his trademark helicopter-like way.

"Hey, see it this way; we can always say our vacations are often at original places." Sonic grinned. "Oh, and somebody grab Knuckles."

"YOU MORONS, YOU FORGOT ABOUT MEEEEEE!" Knuckles yelled as he fell like a rock.

"Everyone say 'Oops' now." Sally groaned while Fiona used her power device to get elastic abilities and grab Knuckles before he crash-landed face first.


	2. The Broken Heart of a Dragon

Chapter 2 - The Broken Heart of a Dragon

A little purple dragon walked out of Ponyville, looking down and sighing.

"Someone tell Princess Luna to become Nightmare Moon again... because the world's is over." Spike thought out loud. "Or at least... my world is over."

Spike couldn't remember feeling this sad before; then again, this was the first time he gotten heartbroken. The little reptile had seen his beloved unicorn, the generous, stylish and sophisticated Rarity dating with another guy; and not just any guy, but Prince Blueblood. The previous day, Spike and his pony friends had gone to Canterlot for some official business with Princess Celestia, and when they finished, and Spike went to Rarity's room to invite her to some of his favorite places in Canterlot (Spike was pretty much raised there and knew almost the whole place), he had seen Rarity and Blueblood through her room's window.

Spike thought Rarity no longer cared about Blueblood, especially after their very disappointing date at the Great Galloping Gala, but it seemed she still had a crush on him, and Blueblood was probably a bit less annoying now since they were together now; Rarity even confirmed it the next morning while the gang returned to Ponyville.

"At least it seems she knows how much it hurt." Spike sighed again. When she told everyone about her new relationship, Rarity tried to be as kind as possible with Spike, the unicorn knowing about his feelings, and, despite not feeling the same way, she loved Spike a lot; the problem was that she wasn't IN love with him.

Spike stopped in front of a little pond, looking at his reflection, and got even sadder.

"Of course she'd choose a stallion; even if Blueblood wasn't a prince, he's still... tall, strong, handsome and sophisticated." Spike almost cringed when remembering the exact words Rarity used to describe the unicorn. "And what do I have for her? Nothing. Zero. Less than zero. Zero negative. I'm... nothing but the little, pudgy, unattractive lizard that no girl would date."

It was at this point where Spike's unique situation hit him harder than usual. He was a dragon raised by ponies, and therefore he couldn't feel attracted to female dragons, considering them too violent, feral and greedy for him to like, and at the same time, he would always be a reptile, without any of the features a mare would find attractive on a male, like a good mane, muscular figure, a bright coat and so. Plus, Spike doubted any mare would like kissing a guy with teeth sharp enough to crush diamonds as if they were cookies.

"Yeah, I'm nothing but a talking lizard." Spike groaned at his own reflection. "And what's your main skill? Sending and receiving messages; congratulations, you're a living mailbox!"

In frustration, Spike hit the water with his tail, and then, when the water calmed after the impact, Spike noticed a new reflection in it. Spike noticed it looked like a bright portal, and then looked up to see the real thing; the portal was appearing on thin air, and at a very considerable height.

"Hey, what's going on?"Spike then noticed several figures falling from the portal, and gasped. "Oh, sweet Celestia... hope those guys can fly, or they're gonna need a hospital bed too soon!"

Spike ran to position himself under the portal, that disappeared while he was moving at his top speed... that wasn't that fast, and made him to, again, insult himself for not being a pony. Luckily, it seemed at least some of the ones falling could fly, as he noticed a few of these figures grew wings and grabbed those who didn't.

The little dragon continued running until noticing the visitors were about to land not that far from there. Spike then moved in a stealthier way, not knowing if the ones arriving were friends or foes. He hide behind a bush and tried to get a good look on them; Spike didn't recognize some of the species, but he definitely recognized the wolves and foxes, and decided to keep quiet, as these seemed to be much stronger and probably more dangerous than the wolves and foxes he had seen previously.

"You guys took your sweet time to help me." A red furred creature with spiky fists groaned.

"Sorry, Knuckles; we thought you had stayed at the laboratory." A young looking fox with two tails apologized to the red one.

"Well, the only one who stayed is Rotor. He'll find a way to get us back home." A blue creature, with a confident smirk, tried to encourage his companions.

"_Rotor? Knuckles?" _Spike arched an eyebrow. "_Well, my name is 'Spike', so I guess I can't criticize."_

"Yes, but still, we'll need to explore this place and find a place to stay."

Spike heard quite a beautiful female voice saying this; he couldn't see who was talking since the largest wolf, a winged one (_'Maybe he's half eagle, like a gryphon' _Spike thought) was standing on the way. When this wolf moved a bit, however, the dragon finally could see the female talking; and he almost fainted at the vision.

"Who. Is. She?" Spike forgot about caution and talked, even if still in a low voice, while his eyes grew much larger than usual. This female looked like some sort of rodent, but the way she moved, her figure, her voice, eyes and everything about her... Spike couldn't remember seeing such a beautiful creature in his life; she was, at least, in the same league as Rarity, even moving with the dignity and leadership from a true queen or princess.

Of course, when Spike talked, even in a low voice, it was still enough for the very sensitive ears of the wolves and foxes to hear him. The large, winged male then aimed his mace at the direction Spike was hidden, and summoned a strong gust of wind that moved the bushes aside, forcing Spike out of his hideout. Then, a split second later, the blue creature moved at a speed comparable to Rainbow Dash's fastest flight, and stood next to Spike.

"Hey, look, it's a lizard guy." The blue one then kneeled to be at Spike's level, the little dragon being flat on his belly after the wind hit him out of the bushes. "Hi, little fella. Don't be afraid, we're not dangerous... well, Knuckles is dangerous, but not all the time."

"O-okay..." Spike gulped a bit but tried to keep his cool; he stood up and cleared his throat. "And I'm not a 'lizard', I'm a dragon; I hate when others call me a lizard... even if most of the time it's a very fitting way to call me." Spike couldn't help but sigh a bit when admitting this.

"Please, forgive us; we didn't mean to scare you."

Spike gulped and sweated a bit when the beautiful female approached him.

"Uh... eh... well... I... I wasn't scared... I'm... eh... well... uh... my name is Dragon and you know, I'm a spike... I mean, my name is Spike and yes, I'm a dragon!" Spike groaned and mentally kicked himself.

"Nice to meet you, Spike. My name is Sally."

"Sally..." Spike gave her a dreamy look, loving the sound of her name.

"Heh, you impressed him, Princess." The blue one half-joked. Spike, however, got an immediate reaction at this.

"A princess? Oh, my, I'm sorry." The dragon immediately bowed and held Sally's hand in a very respectful way. "Please, forgive me for not receiving you the right way, Your Majesty... in my defense, I didn't know you were royalty, even if you have the full presence and dignity of a royalty born."

"Wow. He's too well educated for a guy that lives in a forest." The two-tailed fox rubbed the back of his head.

"Please, Spike, don't be so formal." Sally said, very impressed and pleased at Spike's manners and education. "Most of my friends don't treat me like royalty, and I'm more comfortable that way. Please, allow me to do the introductions."

Sally then told Spike everyone's name, the little dragon paying close attention to all of them; he was particularly impressed by both Daemon (Spike had never seen an angel before, even if, in his eyes, Sally and, previously, Rarity, would fit the part perfectly), and the hedgehogs and echidna; there were no echidnas in Equestria, and none of the hedgehogs here were pink or blue. After introducing themselves, the newcomers explained Spike about how they arrived to Equestria.

"A laboratory? Mmm... we have a few of those here, but, in Equestria, we're more into magic than into science. The most advanced machines we have here are the locomotives." Spike, now more used to his new friends' aspect, explained them about his land. "Also, our... dominant species here are the ponies, and none of them has hands like us, so... guess that limits them a bit for working with lab equipment, unless they're unicorns and can move the stuff with magic."

"Unicorns? You have unicorns here too?" Amy asked him.

"Yeah, There are 3 main types of pony; Earth Ponies, the ones that are, well, land creatures without magic but they're often the physically strongest and have a special connection to nature, animals, and plants, and they're more abundant type of pony; Pegasus Ponies, those with wings and the ones in charge of Equestria's weather; and Unicorn Ponies, that have a horn in the middle of their foreheads and can use magic for several effects, even if only a few very gifted ones, like my friend Twilight, can use the most powerful effects. And, finally, we have the 'Alicorns', that are a mix of all the other types; big like Earth Ponies, with horns like the Unicorns, and wings like the Pegasi; and they're like, the top of our royalty. Our land is ruled by Princesses Celestia and Luna, who are also the most powerful magic users here." Spike explained. "We have a few other... sentient species here, like zebras, minotaurs, gryphons and donkeys, but they're not that many compared with the ponies, so they're still the ones in charge."

"And what about you dragons?" Nicole asked him.

"We`re a special case." Spike groaned. "I'm still a youngster, so I can... hang around with you guys without problems, but adult dragons are gigantic, and some of them are super dangerous. Not to mention that we dragons mature faster when we get greedy..."

"Greedy?" Sonic arched an eyebrow.

"Yes; it's a magical growth. If we get greedy, we dragons grow much faster; and it's not nice. A full grown dragon is a one-creature-army, but growing that fast turns you into a mindless beast that destroys everything at sight." Spike sighed. "That's one reason why I try not to be a greedy, selfish guy, so I stay small and in control of myself... even if that also means being the weakest thing around."

"Oh, I'm sure you're not that weak." Sally comforted Spike while placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I... thank you, Sally..." Spike blushed but then gasped when realizing that Sally was at least 10 feet away from him, and yet she was touching his shoulder with ease. The dragon then gave her arm a good look, noticing she had stretched it.

"How did you do that?" Spike gasped.

"Elasticity Powers." Sally explained while stretching her torso and moving right beside Spike. "It's a power some of us have."

Spike then noticed that, to support Sally's point, several of the females were stretching their arms or torsos. The only female that wasn't doing it was Fiona.

"I can do that too, but only if summoning the right powers." Fiona pointed at her chest. "I use this device to activate my own abilities."

"So... you all have powers?" Spike, still surprised, turned at the group's males. "Or only the ladies?"

"Well, I have no super powers." Lobo admitted. "You already saw Daemon has elemental powers, and he can fly... obviously. Tails can fly too, by using his tails..." While Lobo explained this, Tails used his ability to fly a few feet over the group to illustrate the point, "And you also saw Sonic's speed. Knuckles also has his own special ability; super strength."

"Nice. I wish I could say the same, you know, having a special skill... but I have nothing." Spike sighed again; obviously, he didn't consider the magical message-sending-fire or having teeth that could crush jewels to be cool enough to be considered powers, so he wasn't mentioning. "Anyway, I think you all need a place to stay while you're here in Equestria. Mmm... we're not far from my town, Ponyville; we can go there, discuss this with Twilight and my other friends, and see where you guys can stay. Since you are all used to live in a city, and Sally here is a princess, maybe we should take you to Canterlot later; besides, Princess Celestia would be glad to help you all."

The group thanked Spike for the hospitality, and then he started guiding them to Ponyville, the little dragon taking glances at Sally every few moments.

"The ponies will not get scared with us?" Leeta asked Spike.

"Don't worry. It's getting late, so most of the ponies are already at their homes having dinner, so we'll not find many on the street. Besides, when they see you guys coming with me, they'll see you're no dangerous." Spike explained. "We used to get nervous with Zecora, a zebra that lives at the Everfree Forest, because we thought she was an evil witch, but since we realized she's a good mare, the ponies here are a lot more accepting of those who are different."

"That's good to know." Lupe said. "Also, a while ago you said Princess Celestia would be glad to help us, but you also said you have another powerful princess here..."

"Yeah, Princess Luna. She'd be glad to help you as well, but she does most of her work at night, when everyone is sleeping, so... she has less practice working with others. I'm sure she'll be glad to meet you all too, but Princess Celestia would be the best option to find a spell to get you back home in case this Rotor guy can't. From what you guys told me, he didn't make the portal on his own, but with Nicole and Tails' help, and since he's working alone now..."

The Mobians nodded at this. Rotor was a genius, but creating a portal wasn't easy at all, and recreating one that was unstable in first place would probably take him a long time without Tails and Nicole to work with.

After a few minutes of walking, the group entered Ponyville, and, as Spike said, the streets had almost nobody around, except a few ponies that gave the Mobians a puzzled look but relaxed immediately when noticing they were coming with Spike, and some of them even greeted the newcomers in a nice, friendly way.

"At least we arrived at a friendly place." Maria commented Daemon.

"Yes. It's not nice to arrive in a new dimension and fight for your life the moment you do it." Daemon cringed a bit, remembering when he first arrived to Mobius and he was so confused and short-tempered at that moment he attacked everything in sight.

Spike finally took them to the town's library, and when he was about to open the door, a purple unicorn did it from the inside.

"Spike, where have you been? I've been worried..." Twilight stopped talking when noticing the ones behind Spike. "Uh... hi."

"Hello, Miss... Sparkle, right?" Sally approached the unicorn. "Sorry about the intromission, but we're newcomers in your land, and we could use some help."

"Okay..." Twilight then looked at Daemon, noticing his size. "And I could use a larger door..."

A while later, Twilight, and the rest of her friends, had finished hearing about the Mobian's situation; as usual, when there was a very serious situation, Twilight called the rest of the Elements of the Harmony. As Spike explained to the Mobians, the Elements were pretty much Equestria's special forces unit, called to assist in very special cases, and an interdimensional journey definitely qualified.

"Wow. Another dimension... that's like, 20% cooler than a normal travel." Rainbow Dash commented, while looking at Daemon's wings. "And how fast can you fly? I mean, with wings this big, I'd probably do a Sonic Rainboom without breaking a sweat!"

"We can... talk about that later." Daemon said politely, obviously ignoring what a Sonic Rainboom was. The blue pegasus nodded in agreement while Twilight paced back and forth, thinking about the newcomers' problem.

"Okay... first, it's obvious you can't stay here in my library. This place wasn't thought to be used as a boarding house. The Mayor allowed Spike and I to stay here by Princess Celestia's recommendation, and we even had to adapt it just for the two of us. A group this large..." Twilight was interrupted by Rarity.

"I think some of them can stay at my place. My sister is with my parents right now so it's just Opalescence and I... Opal is my pet cat..." Rarity cleared to the Mobians, "so I have plenty of space."

"Hold on. You have CATS as pets?" Amy arched an eyebrow.

"Well... it's obvious that, in your dimension, almost all the animals are sentient, civilized beings. But here, in Equestria, we only have a handful of sentient, civilized species." Rarity explained, understanding that, in Mobius, having a 'pet cat' would mean having a sentient, civilized feline in a very humiliating situation.

"Yes. Luckily, even our 'non civilized' species can be very smart and we live with them in harmony... most of the time." Twilight smiled while pointing at Owlicious, her pet owl, who was resting next to Knuckles and keeping an eye on Pee Wee, Spike's pet phoenix, who was using the echidna's head as a bed.

"I just hope this one is civilized enough to realize I'm not a bathroom." Knuckles groaned. Spike, grinning, grabbed Pee Wee without waking him up and placed him in his own bed, Sally smiling at the kindness the little dragon showed when taking care of the baby bird.

"I take care of many animals in my house." Fluttershy said in her quiet, almost completely silent tone. "I can... have one or two of you at my place... if you agree."

"Oh, and I can have another one at home. We can have a sleepover party!" Pinkie Pie said with a huge smile. Amy and the elastic wolf twins got immediately interested in the idea.

"And we have plenty of place at mah farm." Applejack finished. "Ah think that would be the best place for Daemon since we already have a lot of space there for mah big brother; and of course, Maria can stay too. Not good to separate the happy couple."

"And I... am glad you guys already offered to play host." Rainbow grinned while looking at the Mobians. "No offense, but I sleep in a cloud, and I doubt you guys have the magic to stand on a cloud without falling."

"Good. Let's decide who will stay with who. Still, I think Nicole and Tails should stay here with Spike and I, since they're the scientists of their group, and we can work together in finding a way to return them home." Twilight said. "After all, 'energy' equals 'energy', either magical or scientific, and we can try referencing your research with my books."

"What about Sally?" Spike asked.

"I would be honored to accept a royal member in my place." Rarity offered.

Spike didn't like this idea that much; his 'old crush' having his 'new one' at her place sounded a bit awkward, not to mention Spike would have a hard time sleeping that night knowing Sally and Rarity would sleep under the same roof. Still, he couldn't deny that a perfect lady like Rarity, educated, sophisticated and generous, was the more adequate to host a princess like Sally, who was, in Spike's eyes, just as wonderful.

"Thank you, Rarity, but I am also a bit of a scientist, so I'd like to stay here with Nicole and Tails too." Sally's words made Spike to beam. "Lobo and Lupe would probably be okay staying with you... if you have the space for them, of course."

Sally didn't mean to be offending, but it was obvious that a large, muscular wolf like Lobo would need more space than the regular pony.

"Oh, it's fine. And yes, my home would be a good place for a mature, nice couple like them." Rarity, even if a bit disappointed for not having a princess staying at her place, was still her generous self, and Lobo and Lupe seemed to be very nice as well.

Pinkie Pie agreed, with great happiness, to have Amy, Leeta and Lyco at her place; she knew the Cakes never minded when she invited friends for a sleepover, and the three girls could also help Pinkie babysit the Cakes' foals; Daemon and Maria accepted Applejack's invitation, and when hearing the farm was an apples' one, Sonic decided to stay there too, since, as he explained to Spike and the ponies, Sonic's usual sleeping place was on a tree branch; Fiona and Knuckles, finally, agreed on staying with Fluttershy.

Once everyone but Nicole, Tails and Sally left to spend the night at the other ponies' homes, with Rainbow Dash going to the Apples farm as well to talk with both Daemon and Sonic on their way there, Twilight and Spike started working with the remaining Mobians. Spike prepared a quick dinner for them while Twilight and the others started checking on the library for every single available book about interdimensional travel, magical portals, and strange energy signals; Tails and Nicole felt a bit out of place at first since, for once, they had to work without any technological help, something very frustrating for them, but they soon got used to the books, and even started enjoying the sensation of holding them while searching for the information.

Spike, despite being very tired and way past his usual bedtime, was more than happy to assist the working geniuses. The little dragon knew his way around the library, and could help them with reference material and providing them with various snacks and drinks to keep them alert while working; not to mention it was extremely cool to see Sally using her elasticity to accelerate the search, stretching her arms to grab the books from the higher shelves, or becoming muscular to hold several heavy books at once.

"You stretch very nicely." Spike said to Sally. Owlicious, who was next to him, nodded and said...

"Who."

"Sally, don't you see her?"

"Who."

"The princess."

"Who."

"Princess Sally. She's right in front of your nose... I mean, your beak!"

"Who."

"You; in front of you!"

"Who."

"You need glasses or... oh, wait a minute; I'm doing it again, right, arguing with you?" Spike groaned while Owlicious just nodded at him. The others at the library giggled at this, and Spike, more than a bit embarrased, turned at the Mobians. "Owlicious is so smart that sometimes I forget the only noise he can make is 'who', and I think he's making a question."

"Who."

"You, you making a question.. wait a minute..." The little dragon slapped his forehead. "Spike, remember you're talking to an owl, you know where this leads to."

"Who."

"No, no 'who'; 'where'... argh! Owlicious, you're gonna drive me crazy!"

"Who."

"Me!" Spike then stopped and sighed. "I'm going to shut up now."

"Spike, you really need to go to sleep." Twilight said to the little dragon.

"No, no, I'm fine, Twi. Making a fool out of myself woke me up completely." Spike groaned again. "Maybe not completely because I continue doing it."

Owlicious then patted Spike's shoulder in sympathy, the dragon sighing at this.

"You're so funny, Spike." Sally giggled a bit more. Even if Spike loved the sound of this, he was still a bit sad about looking like a moron in front of the princess.

"Thanks, Sally... and... I guess Twi is right. I need a break now... but please, wake me up if you need anything; a cup of coffee, a sandwich, a book, a hooves massage..." Spike covered his mouth. "Going to sleep now."

"Who."

Spike raised a finger and was about to talk again but stopped, mimicked zipping on his mouth, and started walking upstairs.

"Aw, I wanted to see more of that routine." Tails chuckled.

"Who."

"Me; I wanted to see you two doing that again."

"Who."

"You and Spike."

"Who."

"Spike, the dragon that just went upstairs..." Tails stopped talking and groaned while the females started laughing. "Does EVERYONE fall for that?"

"Don't feel bad, Tails; even 'I' made that mistake a few times." Twilight chuckled before petting Owlicious, the bird smiling at her before flying up and getting her a book she needed.

"I'm just glad Sonic wasn't here to see that or he'd be laughing like crazy now." Tails groaned.

"Who."

"The... oh, no. Not any more. Zip it. Not saying more. End of discussion." Tails got a very serious expression and folded his arms. Owlicious just shrugged and went back to assisting Twilight.

"Spike does a lot around here, doesn't he?" Sally asked Twilight as they went back to working.

"Yes. In fact, he does so much that I actually got Owlicious in the first place so Spike would have less work, and I could have someone to help me while Spike is sleeping; he's still growing up and can't stay up all night, as I sometimes do when studying." Twilight explained before sighing a bit. "And he does so much for everypony around here... Spike has more education than most ponies, plus he has hands, so he is a Mister 'I do everything' in this place. And that makes me even sadder when something bad happens to him... it's just so unfair."

"Something bad?" Sally forgot about the research, truly interested about this.

"Spike was raised like a pony, so he has pony-like feelings; he's not a creature of greed and instincts, like most dragons in Equestria. And that makes him a great friend... he's like a little brother to me... but sadly, that means he can also get hurt by unrequited love, as it just happened to him with Rarity."

"Rarity? The white unicorn?"

"Yes. Spike had been in love with Rarity since he first saw her, when he and I moved here from Canterlot. And besides yours truly, Rarity is the pony that gets more attention and help from Spike; whenever Spike isn't assisting me, he's at Rarity's place offering help on anything she might need... many times, while Rarity had been busy working, Spike is the one who does all her home chores. And Rarity appreciates it, a lot; she loves Spike a lot... sadly, she only loves him in the same way I do, as a sibling or a best friend." Twilight sighed sadly. "Spike was hoping she would fall for him someday... but yesterday, when we were at Canterlot, Rarity started a relationship with a certain guy none of us likes... but it seems he is a bit less annoying these days, at least enough for Rarity to forgive his past insults... and this broke Spike's heart. The guy Rarity is dating is a prince, and a very good looking one, I admit, so Spike feels completely crushed and hopeless."

"Poor little guy." Sally felt herself holding back tears. "And Rarity knows this?"

"Yes, she does, and she tried to ease the blow for Spike; I can tell Rarity felt awful for breaking his heart... but Spike told her, in his own words, that 'I am happy if you're happy', and even if it's obvious it's not truth, he'd hate to make her feel bad, and therefore he's assuring Rarity that he'll be fine and that she can date her prince without feeling guilty." Twilight looked a bit down at this. "I wanted to be angry with Rarity for breaking my 'little brother's' heart, but I can't blame her for falling in love with somepony else, and Spike can't force anypony to fall in love with him. Besides, I'm also happy for her finally fulfilling her dream of dating a prince."

"I see your point; you are happy for one friend but you also feel bad because this happiness is making another friend sad." Sally sighed, understanding the situation and that it wouldn't be fair to blame Rarity, who seemed to be a really generous and nice unicorn.

"I just wish Spike can find another female to love, and for her to love him back." Twilight said while getting back to work. "If not another pony, maybe a gryphon, or a zebra... or another reptile like him, but I doubt that's gonna happen anytime soon since most of the sentient reptiles here are other dragons, and Spike isn't in good terms with them."

"_Or maybe a chipmunk/squirrel..."_ Sally thought, shaking her head after this. "_Whoa, hold your horses, Sally... okay, maybe not a good thing to think or say in this place. Still, I just met the guy today; I can't get a schoolgirl crush immediately after meeting anyone, even if is someone nice, educated, cute..."_

"I might need a break too." Sally groaned while rubbing her forehead.

"Who."

Sally turned at Owlicious and sighed.

"Sorry, Owlicious, not playing that with you."

"Who."

"You. I'm not in the mood for..." Sally stopped talking. "Talking about a running gag."


	3. Elastic Heroism in Ponyville

Chapter 3 - Elastic Heroism in Ponyville

The next days were quite busy for everyone in Ponyville. After Twilight introduced the Mobians to the Mayor, she made a formal introduction for the whole town, so the other ponies wouldn't fear the newcomers, and the Mobians could move freely around town without worrying. Also, Princess Celestia had already visited and promised to start working on a way to send them back home by checking out Canterlot's library, and sending any new information to Twilight via Spike's magical flames, as usual.

The Mobians did a pretty good job adapting themselves to living with the ponies. Every morning, Knuckles left Fluttershy's home to go help at the Apples' farm, being the most constant Mobian working there, even if most of them helped once in a while; obviously, Knuckles enjoyed doing some physical work, and he was making fast friends with the Apples, especially with Big Macintosh, due to his working, silent nature, something Knuckles appreciated a lot after spending so much time around Sonic.

Said blue hedgehog, when not taking naps in a tree, got to hang around mostly with Rainbow Dash, and they enjoyed racing against each other; they were both quite impressed with each other's speed. Of course, Sonic had broken the sound barrier more than once, but he had never produced a Sonic Rainboom, something he really liked when Rainbow showed it to him. Daemon also spent time with the pegasus, the archangel being quite interested in the flying ponies' ability to control Equestria's weather.

Pinkie Pie was having the time of her life with Amy, Leeta and Lyco, not just with all the fun they had at Sugarcube Corner, but also because she was teaching them how to cook. Luckily, most of the recipes Pinkie was teaching them involved ingredients that weren't hard to get at Mobius, so the hedgehog and wolves wouldn't have a problem making them when returning home.

Fluttershy got some very welcomed help from Maria and Fiona, the trio working with the animals all day. Fiona even got to practice with her assorted powers, using one for the first time; the ability to talk and understand any language. On Mobius, almost every species talked the same language, so she had never used this power back at home, but here, it was a great help to work with the creatures under Fluttershy's care.

Rarity and Lupe were also becoming fast friends; even if Lupe was the co-leader of a warrior race, she was still a diplomat, and Rarity considered her some sort of royalty. Not to mention Lobo was a perfect gentleman (or gentlewolf) and Rarity loved to see the wolves' couple's dynamic, something that gave her great hopes for her own relationship with Blueblood. Plus, it was a nice surprise that Lobo, despite his huge frame and muscular body, was also good at delicate work, and both him and Lupe helped Rarity with her work, except when they joined Knuckles at helping Applejack's family. This help was particularly welcome for Rarity since, these days, Spike spent less time assisting her.

The main reason Spike wasn't helping Rarity as much as before wasn't due to her rejection (it still hurt, but Spike just couldn't be resentful with the unicorn), but because he spent most of his time assisting Twilight, Tails, Nicole, and, of course, Sally. Whenever he wasn't helping them with their research, Spike was doing his best to keep the place as clean and tidy as possible, so the geniuses could work comfortably; the fact that cleaning up the place was also a good excuse to be around Sally, under the excuse of doing his chores, and ordering back the books Twilight and company no longer were using, was an added bonus.

Sally, of course, was mostly focused on her work, but she couldn't help but catch glances of Spike every once in a while; it wasn't that hard since, obviously, Spike was always around, and the only times he wasn't at the library was when he went out for groceries or whatever Twilight told him to get. The princess was quite charmed by the dragon's niceness and abilities; it wasn't easy to find a male with such ability for home chores, plus being smart and kind enough to carry a conversation with her in about every topic; obviously, being raised by Twilight and Princess Celestia gave him both remarkable social skills and a broad education. And it was just too funny to see him trying to impress everyone (or more precisely, her) by doing his best in anything he could do to assist her and the others; at times, he would be overly dramatic, trying to attend Sally as if she was the Queen of The Universe, but after a while it became obvious, even for him, that he was doing his best when not trying to overdo himself.

A week after the Mobians' arrival, Spike had to leave Ponyville for a while, due to one of Twilight's errands; she needed a few jewels for the research, in case they needed it as energy crystals or lenses if they eventually could make a machine, combining magic and science, to recreate the same invention that stranded the Mobians in Equestria. Usually, Rarity would go with Spike too, since she had the special ability to find buried or hidden gems, but Spike wanted to show everyone he could do it by his own.

"Okay, Spike, don't screw this up. You can't fail Twi; and you don't wanna fail your new friends either... and disappointing Sally is like, completely forbidden..." Spike took a few deep breaths to calm down when finally arriving at the usual spot he and Rarity searched for jewels. Then, he got on four legs, and started sniffing around; since he lacked Rarity's magic powers, Spike relied on his animal senses, and being a dragon, a creature who could eat jewels like most people would eat cookies, Spike's nose was capable of detecting them, a quite notable ability.

After a while of searching, Spike found the first gem, and it was a very special one; a sapphire, as big his own face, and heart-shaped. This immediately reminded him of the Fire Ruby he once gave to Rarity, but this time he could only think about someone to give this gem to... once he stopped himself from munching it, of course.

"A Glacier Sapphire... this is as hard to find as a lemon tree in Applejack's farm!" Spike grinned. "Hope Sally will like it... I mean, hope she can use it for the research... I mean, hope they all can use it... And better stop arguing with myself; this is even dumber than my arguments with Owlicious."

Spike got back to searching, and he finally got a bag full of jewels, and resisted the temptation of eating them since he couldn't tell which gems could be useful for Twilight and the others, and would hate to know that the gem they needed had ended as his lunch.

"Besides, I'm sure they'll let me eat the jewels they don't use." Spike chuckled.

"And what are we getting?"

"Well, if you say 'Please'..." Spike stopped talking and gulped, especially when his hyper sensitive nose recognized the smell of the ones behind him.

"The Di-Di-Di-Di..."

"Diamond Dogs." The 3 large canines grinned at Spike. "Nice to see you, Dragon."

"And I see you found us a nice batch of jewels." Another dog smirked while approaching to the bag.

"Hold on, these jewels are important!" Spike growled.

"Yes, for us. And better move back before we beat you up, Dragon." The largest dog growled.

"Okay, first of all... Stop. Calling. Me. Dragon." Spike growled back. "Do you know who I am?"

"No. Who?" The dog was silenced by Spike placing a hand on his muzzle.

"Don't say 'who', please."

"Why?"

"Don't say that either!"

"What?"

"Aaaargh! First the owl, and now you three!" Spike started pacing back and forth while rubbing his sides, confusing the dogs. "You're giving me a headache!"

"Now, hold..."

"Don't you know it's not good to talk to someone having a headache? Shame on you." Spike frowned. "Your mommy didn't educate you?"

"Uh... well..."

"I think I'm gonna tell your mother." Spike smirked.

"No, no, please, no..."

"Mmmm... okay... I'll consider it. But you better behave, okay?" Spike looked at the three nodding dogs. "Good. Now, go to your room, and don't get out until I tell you, or no dinner tonight."

The dogs nodded and ran away. Spike lost no time and grabbed the jewels, dashing on the opposite direction.

"Heh, Rarity was right. These dogs have rocks for brains." Spike chuckled while running. "Wonder when they're gonna realize I tricked them."

"**WAIT A MINUTE!"**

Spike cringed when hearing the dogs yelling, and started running even faster.

"Come on, Spike, hurry up, just another mile and you'll be safe and sound in Ponyville..."

The dragon was already seeing some ponies' homes at a distance, and was almost sure he'd get there in time... when one of the Diamond Dogs emerged right in front of him, literally jumping out of the ground.

"Yipes! I forgot you guys could chase others by tunnel!" Spike gulped.

"And you also forgot we don't like when others mess with us." The dog approached Spike, looking quite mad.

"Well... uh... eh..." Spike realized he had no way out of this, and stood up. "Alright, you fool; in case you forgot it, I'm still a dragon. A short one, but a dragon, no less. And I can handle a dog like you. Or three."

Spike then heard multiple snarling behind him, and turned back, looking at several Diamond Dogs, in guard/soldier outfits, emerging from various tunnels. The dragon couldn't help but pale in fear.

"Or... four... or five... dozens." Spike gulped when finding himself overcrowded, but tried to keep a brave image. "Eh... well... you're all under arrest!"

The dogs snarled at him.

"Uh... detention?" Spike sweated cold.

The dogs snarled again.

"On probation?"

The dogs got closer.

"No dessert tonight?" Spike gave them a sheepish look before sighing. "Okay... guess there's only one thing to do."

"Begging for your life?" One of the largest dogs smirked at him.

"No. I just remembered I can do this." Spike took a deep breath and then surprised the canines by breathing his largest flame ever, forming a circle of fire around him. The dogs jumped back, but soon reacted and started throwing dirt at the fire to extinguish it, but, by the time they had done it, they realized they had all forgotten that Spike could tunnel as well; right there, in the middle of where the fire circle was just a moment ago, there was now a small tunnel, and Spike and the jewels were gone.

Some of the dogs jumped at the tunnel, enlarging it by their own digging. Then, the ones on the surface heard loud barking, growling, and even some yelping coming from the tunnel; when another dog got closer to the tunnel to enter as well, he jumped back when a little flame jumped out and burned his nose.

A few moments later, another dog emerged from a new tunnel, with Spike riding him, the dragon still holding the bag of jewels with one hand while using the other to get a hold on the dog, and bite him several times. The dog yelped in pain and started rolling on the ground, with Spike still holding on him like a tick; the other dogs then pounced on their companion to help him with the dragon, but Spike jumped down at the last moment, and the dogs started beating each other, not noticing Spike trying to run away again. Unfortunately, another dog spotted him and charged at Spike, who no longer could use a strong flame due to exhausting his inner fire for the time being, so the dragon had to rely on his fists, claws and teeth to defend himself, and, surprisingly, he actually managed to hurt this dog, but the others realized this and joined the fight.

Less than one minute later, Spike was crawling and trying to cover himself while protecting the bag, as the dogs continued punching, kicking and biting him. The little dragon had resisted as much as he could, but in the end he was very outmatched.

"Aw, the poor little baby is gonna cry?" A dog mocked Spike.

"Think we should make him our jewels-looking slave?" Another dog asked.

"No. I have another idea." The largest dog grinned and moved right next to Spike, his muzzle almost touching the dragon's head. "A chewing toy."

Spike closed his eyes, gulping, and feeling the dog's breath as he opened his jaws to start 'chewing' him, when he heard an explosion, and then all the dogs yelping. When Spike opened his eyes, he saw all the dogs were scattered around him, and when looking up in the sky, he realized that it wasn't a common explosion.

It was a Sonic Rainboom.

"**STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND, OR I'M GONNA KICK YOUR TAILS SO BADLY YOUR PUPS WILL BE BORN WITHOUT A BUTT!"**

The dogs finally reacted, recovering partially from the deafening sound and the rainboom's shockwave, and growled at Rainbow, who was flying over them.

"Oh, yeah? You and what Air Force?"

The dog who said this got silent when a large, winged shadow feel over him. And when looking up, the dog yelped in fear, barely on time to see Daemon's mace before it impacted against his head, knocking him out.

"What's that freak?" Another dog yelled, confused.

"Hey, nobody insults my husband!" Maria arrived the next, having used a winged shape to follow after Daemon, and then she morphed into her ball shape. "Wanna play ball, Puppies?"

Maria, as a ball, started ricocheting at high speed, hitting the dogs several times. Before the canines could fight back, another blue speedster joined the battle.

"Hey, Rainbow, the others saw your lights show! They're coming!" Sonic said to Rainbow Dash while the hedgehog started punching and kicking the dogs at super speed.

"Others?" Another dog asked, and then gasped when looking at Ponyville, realizing several canine creatures, and one that looked like a rodent, were stretching their way across town, some by enlarging their whole bodies and others by getting quite large legs, and they all looked ready to beat up the dogs.

"GET THE DRAGON, WE CAN USE IT AS A HOSTAGE!" A dog yelled to his companions, but at that moment two unicorns appeared right next to Spike; Twilight had used her teleportation spell, and Rarity was next to her.

"Want jewels?" Rarity growled, using her magic on the bag and levitating several of the gems. "HERE THEY ARE, YOU BRUTES!"

Rarity then started using the jewels as projectiles (not the largest ones, since Rarity was focusing mostly on the small, easy to levitate ones), with her magic sending them against the Diamond Dogs with enough force to knock out several of them. Some of the dogs started digging their way out, but then Sally arrived and, making her hands as big as a full grown pony, grabbed them before they could escape, and then started slamming them full force.

"Let's get out of here!" Another dog said to his remaining companions, and they started tunneling, but Fiona arrived at that moment, riding on Applejack, and the female fox had her own trick.

"Oh, you like Earth? I'll give you Earth!" Fiona used her device to get her geomancing powers, and sent a powerful energy wave through the ground, literally expelling out those dogs that were already underground. The rest of the elastic females then formed a wall around the dogs so they couldn't run away, and Sonic and Rainbow Dash finished the job by moving at top speed around them; a split second later, the whole pack was trapped in a blue tornado, and when the speedsters stopped moving, all the dogs fell down; due to the wind's force, they landed the other side of the hills.

"**AND IF YOU TRY THAT AGAIN, WE'LL HURT YOU SO MUCH YOU'LL NEED THE JEWELS TO PAY FOR A VETERINARIAN!" **Rainbow yelled, in case any of the dogs was still conscious enough to get her words. The blue pegasus was tempted to hunt down the dogs and continue beating them up, but she was just too concerned about Spike, and decided to join the others and see how badly beaten he was.

"Spike, are you alright... okay, silly question." Twilight said while attending him. "Better question; are you conscious?"

"T-Twi..." Spike, very dizzy, started focusing his sight. The first thing he saw, besides Twilight, was Sally, right next to the purple unicorn, attending him as well.

"I... see... an angel..."

"No, the angel is here." Rainbow Dash said while pointing at Daemon. "Those are Sally and Twilight. Wow. You really got a beating; those dogs used you as a chewing toy."

"Rainbow, Ah like honesty, but yah are being too brutally honest!" Applejack frowned at Rainbow, who realized her mistake and got an ashamed expression.

"So that's the face I make when I speak faster than I think. No wonder the others frown at me." Sonic thought out loud.

"Fiona, you have healing powers, right?" Sally asked the fox, who nodded and started adjusting her dial.

"Spikey, why didn't you ask me to come with you?" Rarity lectured Spike even if it was obvious she was as concerned as everyone else. "You know it's very dangerous to do jewel-mining without any help, especially close to the Diamond Dogs' territory."

"No, Rarity; it's my fault." Twilight groaned and looked down. "I told Spike we needed some jewels for the research; I should have come here with him. With my teleportation spell, we'd be able to escape the dogs without problems."

Spike heard the 'blaming yourself festival' around him, and looked down, almost crying. When Fiona finally got the right powers, and started healing him, he looked up at his friends, sighing.

"No... it wasn't anyone's fault... but mine."

"Spike, you can't blame yourself." Lupe said, trying to comfort the little dragon.

"Yeah, it wasn't your fault those morons attacked you." Leeta added.

"No, but it was my fault I was such an easy target. Rarity and Twilight are right; I shouldn't have gone jewel-searching on my own. And when the dogs attacked me... I was just too weak and small to defend the jewels, or myself." Spike sighed sadly, and stood up. "I'm nothing but a... little, defenseless, useless lizard."

"Spike, don't be so harsh on yourself." Sally tried to calm him down but Spike started walking away from the group. He then noticed the sack, that was now almost completely empty except for something big still inside; all the other jewels were scattered around, due to Rarity using them as weapons; Spike grabbed the sack and walked away from the group, heading to nowhere in particular.

"Spike." Sally was about to stretch her arm to stop him but Rarity stopped her.

"No. He wants to be alone right now." The white unicorn sighed. "Let's... give him some time to calm down... and if he still feels bad, we'll help him."

The others nodded at this, hating to let Spike go, but knowing Rarity had a fair point.

"Alright, where's the danger?"

Everyone turned to see Spike, Lobo, Tails and a very reluctant Fluttershy (finally) arriving.

"Uh... sorry, guys, you're late." Sonic grinned. "You missed all the fight and the post-fight drama; the later is something nobody liked."

"Oh, great." Knuckles groaned and face-palmed. "I knew it! We lost a lot of time."

"Doing what?" Applejack asked.

"Helping Pinkie Pie gather her weapons." Lobo pointed at the pink pony arriving a moment later, dressed like a Rambo-like, and holding several cakes, rubber chickens, balls, and, of course, her party cannon.

"ALRIGHT, I'M READY! I HAVE WHIPPED CREAM HERE, AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT!" Pinkie said, growling, before eating some of the whipped cream. "SEE? I KNOW HOW TO USE IT. AND I MIGHT FIND OTHER WAYS!"

All those with hands face-palmed, while the ponies just sighed and shook their heads.

"Just repeat yourselves 'Despite everything, we love her', and the headache will eventually leave." Rarity rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, Spike, without realizing it, was now entering the Everfree Forest; usually, he would avoid this place as much as Fluttershy would avoid a rock n' roll concert, but this time he just didn't care if he was getting lost, eaten by a Manticore or intoxicated with poison ivy. At this point, he would gladly fight the Diamond Dogs again, alone, just to feel something besides self-hating.

"Well done, Spike. You wanted to impress Sally, and you only proved her what Rarity already knew; that you're the most useless, pathetic, excuse of an assistant that had ever lived." Spike groaned before taking out the Glacier Sapphire from the sack. "Sally deserves this jewel... but she must get it from someone who deserves her gratitude and love... someone worthy of a princess... someone smart like Twilight, strong like Big Macintosh, educated like Rarity, cool like Rainbow Dash, funny like Pinkie Pie, hard-working and responsible like Applejack, and charming like Fluttershy. Someone... that isn't me."

Spike stopped walking and looked down, holding the sapphire with both hands. At this moment, he was pondering about what to do with this jewel, and for once, it didn't involve eating it, or giving it as a gift.

"Should I drop it, hit my face with it, or trade it for a ticket out of Ponyville?" Spike frowned. The dragon, in anger, threw the sapphire against a nearby tree; it bounced back and hit his face.

"OW! COME ON, SPIKE, CAN'T YOU EVEN DUMP SOMETHING?" Spike roared in anger, frustration, sadness and desperation. Spike grabbed the sapphire and started looking for somewhere to dump it, while rubbing his face; even if Fiona had healed his wounds, he still felt some pain from the beating.

Spike finally found what seemed to be a good place to dump the jewel; behind some bushes. The dragon took some impulse and threw it over the plants.

"You know, this is the first time someone hits me with a jewel."

Spike cringed when hearing this voice.

"Perfect. Just perfect. Even 'here' I am making mistakes." Spike sighed and moved through the bushes. "Sorry about that, Sir; you can conserve the jewel if you... want..."

Spike stopped walking and wide-opened his eyes in surprise. In front of him, holding the sapphire with telekinetic magic in front of his face, was an alicorn, like Princess Celestia, Luna or Cadence, but this one was a male, and a very large one; probably as huge as Big Macintosh. His coat, tail and mane were a lot like Applejack's, but his mane was even brighter, and in fact the whole alicorn seemed to glow under the sunlight. Also, his wings were unusually large, even more than Princess Celestia's (who, until now, had the largest wings Spike had ever seen in a pony), and, unlike the rest of his coat, or his mane and tail, was a bright red. Also, his hooves seemed to be pure silver's, and he had a small, red jewel in his forehead right under the horn, that was also as big as Princess Celestia's.

Spike, knowing all alicorns were born in royalty, bowed respectfully in front of this stranger, realizing he could be a prince, and most surely, also related to Celestia, Luna and Cadence. He wouldn't be surprised if this guy was Cadence's older cousin... even if Spike, at this moment, didn't remember him attending Cadence and Shining Armor's Wedding.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you, Sir. Please, forgive me for my... stupidity."

"Not thinking high about yourself, uh?" The huge colt approached Spike, talking in a noble, royal yet nice way.

"Not easy to think high about someone who's the size of a baby goat." Spike sighed for the millionth time.

"I think you're larger than that." The alicorn then nodded at Spike, signaling him to look up. "And stop bowing, please. Can you tell me your name?"

"I'm Spike, Sir."

"Nice to meet you, Spike. My name is Adam Warcolt. And now... let's see if we can do something about your self-esteem."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about something that small." Spike said to the alicorn. Adam couldn't help but sigh a bit at this.

"This is gonna be a challenge."


	4. An Alicorn and A Dragon

Chapter 4 - An Alicorn and A Dragon

Adam walked in front of Spike, leading him through the forest. Spike, at times, noticed some bright eyes looking at them from the trees and bushes, but no creature dared to attack them, or, more precisely, they didn't dare attack Adam. Obviously, the Everfree Forest's inhabitants knew, by instinct or experience, that a full grown alicorn has very powerful defensive magic, and therefore stayed out of Adam's way.

"We've arrived."

Spike stopped walking, realizing there was no house on sight, not even a forest one, like Zecora's tree. It was just a large cavern.

"Uh... you live here?" Spike asked him.

"The whole forest is my home. I just brought you here since this is a relatively safe spot where you won't feel watched by Everfree's predators. I know you dragons feel more comfortable in this kind of space. And you should get this sapphire back into your bag; carrying such a valuable item is a temptation for criminals, even for those who don't know about its economical worth."

Spike nodded and dropped the sapphire inside the bag; even if, in the middle of the forest, it wasn't likely to find a jewel thief, many animals were attracted by bright, shiny objects, and even an alicorn would have problems dealing with a hydra or a manticore. Adam then entered the cave, and, once he and Spike had walked a bit, he used his horn to illuminate their way, finally stopping at a more or less comfortable spot.

"Now, Spike, wanna tell me why you feel so much anger and sadness towards yourself? Most dragons don't feel this insecure, or, at least, not in public."

"Well, the middle of the forest isn't precisely a public place." Spike groaned but then sighed and took a seat in a nearby rock. "And about your question... you'd feel insecure too if you were the most useless creature in all of Equestria."

"You don't seem to be that useless. You express yourself quite well... okay, not about yourself, but you know what I mean. Most dragons your age aren't this well educated."

"Most dragons hadn't been raised by ponies. You probably know already that Princess Celestia raised a little dragon, along with her best pupil." Spike guessed that, being an alicorn, he would know enough about Princess Celestia's personal life.

"I usually stay away from Canterlot, but yes, I heard something about that. Being raised by Princess Celestia herself and one of her pupils is quite a privilege."

"That makes me feel even worse!" Spike growled before looking down in sadness. "Not... being raised by them, of course... Princess Celestia was always very kind and patient with me... and Twilight, her pupil... she's like my big sister; I love them both, a lot. But... I feel awful because, even with their mentoring, I'm still useless. I don't even have the excuse of being badly raised, because I got a great family, very good friends, and despite all that, I am nothing but an overgrown lizard!"

"Well, at least now you admit being bigger than something."

"Glad you can have some fun at my expenses." Spike groaned. "Guess that's the only thing I'm good for; being the laughing stock. And I'm not even the group's funny one; next to Pinkie Pie, I'm as boring as a snails' wrestling match."

"Okay, while I... imagine that hypothetical match..." Adam actually got an amused smile, "why don't you tell me why you REALLY feel this bad about yourself? I can sense someone used a healing energy on you recently, so maybe this low self-esteem is related to losing a one-sided fight?"

"No; a mouse versus a minotaur is a one-sided fight. What happened to me was a birthday party; and I was the piñata, just with jewels instead of candy." Spike sighed and told Adam about the Mobians, making special emphasis on Sally, and his encounter with the Diamond Dogs.

"The only reason I'm not cheap dog food right now is because my friends saved me... as they ALWAYS have to do whenever we're in danger. I hate that! I hate being weak, and useless, and stupid..."

Adam raised a hoof to silence Spike.

"Spike, you were attacked by a whole pack of Diamond Dogs, and you resisted their attack until your friends arrived to save you. That was an impressive feat; most ponies wouldn't have lasted half the time you did, and I'm talking about adult, strong ponies. You used your brains and physical abilities in creative ways, and you should be proud of yourself for giving such a good fight against overwhelming numbers and superior forces."

"Maybe... but... still, the point is... I can't expect anyone to love me if I can't be strong enough to defend my beloved." Spike sighed and took out the sapphire, caressing its surface while still talking. "I used to be in love with this... awesome unicorn... her name is Rarity... I think I might still have some feelings for her... and it would be impossible for any sane, straight male of any species to not be attracted by her... but... she's way beyond my league; she's an Element of Harmony, for Celestia's sake! I'm lucky I'm worthy enough of being her friend."

Spike paused and got a deep breath, getting a slight smile.

"And... well, it seems I just don't learn. The lady I'm having feelings for these days... the female I'm falling in love with, if I'm not in love already... "

"Princess Sally." Adam deduced with easy; Spike simply nodded and continued talking.

"Yes. Again, I've fallen for someone who's just too much for me. I wanted to give her this sapphire; a beautiful (and delicious) rare gem for a wonderful, beautiful princess... and don't take me wrong; I'd still love her even if she wasn't a princess, I mean, I fell for Rarity at first sight, when she still wasn't an Element; those 'extras' only make them even greater." Spike looked down, almost in tears. "Sally and Rarity deserve the best; they deserve royalty; they deserve heroes; they deserve greatness. They deserve... everything I'm not."

"Spike, take this from someone who had lived for a very long time; royalty doesn't always equal greatness. You probably think like this because most, if not all, the royals you have met are nice, brave and strong, like Princess Celestia, and of course, this Sally girl; but I have met royals that are nothing but big, stupid jerks."

"Yes, I know; Rarity is dating one of them... but I think he's doing better these days. Otherwise, Rarity is just too smart and dignified to date anyone who doesn't deserve it." Spike pointed out.

"Good for her. And also, you mention heroism and greatness; there are many types of heroes, and greatness comes in many ways. However... as you say, Princess Sally is some sort of powerful, warrior princess; someone who doesn't expect a knight to defend her if she can do it herself. Therefore, you think the only way you can be with her is if you're her equal in abilities and courage."

"Her equal... yes... that would be perfect. She wouldn't see me as a simple lizard, or, in the best case, another of her friends. She would probably see me as dating material." Spike exclaimed but then looked down again. "And then, the rainbows will include gray, black and white in their colors, and Fluttershy will become a horseshoes sales-mare, and Big Macintosh will reduce his size until he's smaller than my toes, and Zecora will lose her stripes..."

"You have a thing for sarcasm, don't you?"

"You too, am I right?" Spike arched an eyebrow at Adam... and the large alicorn started laughing loudly.

"I hadn't laughed this hard in ages. Are you sure Princess Sally wouldn't fall for someone with a sense of humor?"

"I heard she dated this Sonic guy for some time; and it didn't work, so... no, she might enjoy a sense of humor but not dating a clown." Spike shrugged.

"Okay then... you might not realize it yourself, Spike, but you already have many good qualities. And if the only thing, you think, is stopping you from achieving your own greatness, is your lack of physical power, I can offer you options."

"Working out, eating my vegetables, and sleeping at least 8 hours a night?" Spike groaned.

"That works too. Or, if you want to accelerate the process..."

Adam then used his magic to form an image; it looked like a gauntlet at first, but then it morphed into a sword, a club and some sort of rod.

"You can't decide on what weapon to show me?" Spike asked.

"This is one weapon in many shapes, Spike; similar to that mace you told me this Daemon guy possesses." Adam explained. "However, in order to work, this weapon requires a very special power source. You notice those six holes in the hilt?"

Spike nodded and looked closer at the image, now very interested in Adam's explanation.

"Besides the Elements of Harmony, there are other jewels with great power in Equestria. And just like the Elements only have their power when they're used by their living avatars, and only can be used at full power when combining all of them, these stones only have power when they're held by someone worthy, and only have full power when combined in the same weapon."

"What do you call these things? The Elements of Empowerment?"

"Nice alliteration work, Spike, but the correct name is Infinity Stones. In theory, these stones can give you infinite powers, but, as you might imagine, there's a catch. Such power is just too much for anyone, even if having magical powers or impressive physical might of his/her own; so, you can only use a fraction of that power; and that's also why Celestia didn't use the Stones, or made your friends use it, against Discord, or even to cure Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon. In comparison, the Elements of Harmony are easier to handle, especially because, as their name indicates, their power is related with complete harmony, and in fact it's useless if such harmony is corrupted, so there's little to none risk of the ones using the elements getting corrupted by their power."

"I see... but then, what if I get corrupted by the Infinity Stones' power? I want to be strong, but I don't wanna become a monster; been there, done that, didn't like it at all."

"And that's precisely why you are an adequate wielder for such power, Spike. I'm an alicorn; I already have great magical power, and if getting access to the Stones, even if I could resist any negative influence for a while, in a long term, even 'I' can get corrupted by such power; why do you think Princess Celestia and Luna divided Equestria's dominion, one of them ruling over day and the other ruling over night? Because any princess having the whole power permanently would get corrupted eventually; you saw how anger and negative feelings corrupted Princess Luna, and how she needed one thousand years to get purified of them; and the reason Princess Celestia wasn't corrupted by having full power over Equestria for over a millennium was because of her fear of getting affected like Luna did."

Spike nodded in understanding.

"You, Spike, on the other hand... you don't consider yourself powerful. You know how it feels to be weak, and how it feels when someone powerful takes advantage of you. As long as you remember this, and how you want to use your powers to better yourself in order to help others, and with love being your main motivation... the Infinity Stones' power won't corrupt you. Remember, Spike; the strong ones become bullies when they forget how it feels to be weak."

"I see..." Spike then became a lot more serious. "I promise that, if I'm worthy enough of this power, I won't abuse it. And this time I'm not being sarcastic."

Adam nodded at Spike, and then used his magic again, this time to materialize a large piece of paper.

"This is a reference sheet I made of the Infinity Stones. There's basic information about them, and also where you can find them; I'll tell you that it won't be easy, as it happens with everything important. The weapon, the Infinity Staff, is hidden as well, and I know where."

"You're telling me where to look for it too?"

"Yes." Adam paused. "Move the rock you were sitting on."

Spike wide opened his eyes. He then ran to the rock and tried moving it; the rock was too heavy, and, when realizing he couldn't move it, the dragon started digging around the rock until finding a large box. He pulled it out of the hole, and took out the weapon, that was surprisingly light.

"Whoa. I thought it would be heavier." Spike grinned in delight before pausing and frowning. "Wait a minute... if you knew the weapon was here, why did you make that image instead of taking it out?"

"Spike, I live in the middle of a forest where nopony usually comes. Even I enjoy an entertaining chat once in awhile; and the magic makes for good storytelling." Adam grinned.

"Great. A wise hermit who longs for a social life." Spike rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure you don't wanna become a comedian?" Adam smirked.

"Are you sure you're not a comedian yourself?" Spike frowned before getting a thoughtful expression. "Mmm... if the stones thing doesn't work, we can take this act in Las Pegasus."

"Let's make it our Plan B, okay?" Adam replied, definitely entertained by this dragon.

Back in Ponyville, Twilight and Sally were already pacing back and forth at the unicorn's house, with Nicole and Tails trying to comfort them, but it was obvious the foxes were getting just as nervous.

"Spike had been out for more than 2 hours now." Twilight groaned. "I know he needed some alone time, but..."

"Yeah, I'm worried too." Sally sighed. "Maybe we should ask Rainbow or Sonic to make a quick search... or track him ourselves, I mean, Lupe and the other wolves are good at that."

"Let's give him a few more minutes. Maybe he's already coming back." Tails pointed out.

At that moment, a small burst of flames appeared from thin air, and it left a piece of paper before extinguishing.

"That's one of Spike's notes!" Twilight dashed to read it.

"And Spike says this ability isn't useful." Nicole added before she and the others waited for Twilight to read the note.

"Dear Twilight, Sally, and anyone else reading this. I'm sorry if I made you worry about me; you don't need to, since I'm okay. However, I'll still be away for some time, and I can't tell how much." Twilight sighed while reading. "Today I realized I need to improve myself in order to be more useful to the group. I know you'd probably tell me something among the lines of 'You're not useless', but even if that's right, this incident with the Diamond Dogs proved I need to be stronger. I'd never forgive myself if any of you get hurt before I couldn't protect myself."

Everyone got a sad expression, with Sally and Twilight almost at the verge of tears; it was so obvious that Owlicious actually grabbed a paper tissue with his beak and gave it to Twilight, the unicorn thanking him before cleaning up his eyes. The owl was about to do the same with Sally but the princess stretched her arm to grab another tissue herself. Twilight then continued reading.

"I found a trainer, coach, or whatever you wanna call a large, mysterious alicorn that can help me be less of a punching bag. He's gonna help me become a better dragon, and when I say 'better', I mean stronger without needing to go all Giant Monster like before. This is gonna take a while, so, please, take good care of Pee Wee; I have a little list of instructions on how to attend him right under my bed's pillow; I did it in case I ever was too sick to take care of him myself, or, like now, if I had to leave for some days. Again, I'm very sorry for making you worry, but I promise I'll return as a much better, completely improved guy. Thanks again. Love you, Spike. P.S. Twilight, don't forget the note for the milk-mare; we are running out of butter."

"Thanks for the mood swing, Spike." Tails facepalmed yet smiled a bit. "At least we know he's okay... or at least, that he's somewhere with enough civilization to get writing material."

The females sighed and nodded; Tails had a fair point, and it seemed Spike was alright, at least physically. Still, they were worried about where he was, and the identity of this 'coach'. Twilight made a mental note about asking Princess Celestia about how to send a message back to Spike, a magical ability the princess had and the unicorn lacked, much to Twilight's sadness at the moment, as she was regretting not learning this trick before... but then again, with Spike around, she had never needed to do that herself.

Back with Adam and Spike, the alicorn was making Spike do some push-ups and basic working out exercises while observing him in deep thought.

"So... how is this helping me get the stones?" Spike asked Adam when the alicorn allowed him to take a break.

"Once you get at least one of them, the stones' power, even if not at its full power without having them all, will help you overcome the dangers or challenges you'll face to gather them. Until then, you only count with your own abilities, so we need to improve and enhance them." Adam explained, still looking thoughtful. "And this might be a problem."

"I know. I'm not good enough..." Spike was silenced by Adam.

"First of all, stop putting yourself down. You need to build up your self-confidence in order to achieve your goal. I'm sure you have seen the Elements of Harmony's avatars needing to believe in themselves in order to make their magic to work." Adam waited until Spike nodded, and then continued talking. "And second, you're not the problem, but me. Or more precisely, my ability to train you."

"How come?"

"I've lived for a very long time now, Spike, and I've trained many colts and mares in both magic and physical combat. However, all my other pupils were ponies, so my training techniques are suited for their abilities, not for a dragon's; you aren't a unicorn, so I can't teach you magical attacks; you're not an earth pony, so I can't teach you most of the physical attacks I know..."

"And I'm not a pegasus... in fact, I'm not even a flying dragon... so you can't teach me aerial techniques either." Spike sighed.

"In deed. And this actually helps me understand why you feel like the 'weak one' when compared with your companions. However, from my experience with dragons, both as opponents and as allies, and by watching you, I can tell you have many good qualities that are useful in battle." Adam walked in front of Spike and gently yet firmly touched the dragon's muzzle with his hoof.

"For starters, the obvious; you have Fire Breath. Even if not as powerful as an adult's dragon, you still can produce flames, something ponies, and most creatures in general, can't, and you already know how to use it in a practical way, by sending messages magically. That's something not even other dragons can do unless training for it. We can work to make your fire even more powerful."

Spike nodded, liking the idea; he knew his fire could be useful, but rarely used it in a fight, and it wasn't so powerful compared with the very other dragons he had met, so most of the time he didn't consider it a worthy ability in battle.

"Also, your teeth. You know that diamonds are the hardest non-magical mineral material in existence? And your kind eats them as easily as I'd chew an apple. To do this, not only you have very powerful teeth, but also incredibly strong jaw muscles that help you bite and chew the gems." Adam then touched Spike's sides. "Your body is covered in scales, all of them much harder than any pony's skin; even if you felt pain when those dogs attacked you, you still survived a beating, without bleeding, that would've severely injured even a muscular, adult earth pony." Adam then pointed at Spike's hands. "And you have hands, Spike; not just something that enables you to do delicate, precision tasks that ponies can't do unless using magic (in the case of unicorns) or having extreme dexterity, but also 'clawed' hands that help you dig even through solid rock with little effort. And, of course, your tail." Adam patted the dragon's tail. "Covered in scales and very muscular; you can use it as an extra limb during a fight."

Spìke was now feeling a bit prouder of his species; of course he knew a dragon could be very dangerous in a fight, but until now he thought he'd need to be much bigger to actually be a physical threat.

"And with the Infinity Staff, even before getting the stones, you'll possess an indestructible weapon, that can be used as a battle staff." Adam finished, using his alicorn magic to levitate the Infinity Staff and move it around, mimicking facing several enemies around him; Spike was impressed at how fast he was doing it. If actually hitting someone with the staff, Adam would have knocked out even an enemy as big as himself.

"Now that we both know what we have for starters, it's time to really train you." Adam gave the staff back to Spike, the little dragon nodding and getting a decided look.

And then, randomly, Pinkie Pie's voice was heard.

"Cue the training montage!" The voice was heard again. "Good, I have my Disney's soundtracks CD... heh, I couldn't find the Rocky one, but this works just as well."

The song 'Be a Man' is heard while Adam starts training Spike.

Adam showed Spike how to throw the Infinity Staff and make it bounce on multiple targets before catching it back. Spike threw it at a rock, and it ricocheted several times... making Spike to run away when it ricocheted back at him, too fast for the dragon to catch. Adam rolled his eyes.

Next, Adam showed him how the Infinity Staff could make him resistant to fire and elements in general even without the Infinity Stones powering it. Adam held the staff while asking Spike to shoot fire at him; Spike did, and Adam didn't even feel the heat. Then, Adam gave Spike the staff, and used a spell to summon an icy blizzard... that froze Spike while leaving the staff unfrozen.

After that, Adam and Spike started training some fighting moves. Spike moved the staff at high speed, doing several defensive and attack moves, even moving it like a pair of nunchucks... and then yelping and rubbing his sides in pain as he had hit himself with the staff while doing the moves.

The scene now showed Spike doing 'The Crane' while standing on top of a large rock. The dragon threw the kick and then landed on his right foot, without problems... until a butterfly landed on his nose and this was enough to make him lose balance and fall from the rock.

The scene now has Adam showing Spike how the Infinity Staff can separate itself, forming a staff and grappling hook combo. Spike nods and starts working with it, spinning the 'hook' to try grappling a nearby tree... and in the process, Spike gets tied up.

Now, Adam makes Spike throw several flame balls at assorted targets; first, a rock; then, a bush; then, a tree; then, another rock... and Spike misses it, and hits a beehive. Cue Spike getting attacked by the swarm.

Spike now starts doing shadow boxing with... his shadow, that gets projected on the cave's wall. Spike actually does a good job this time, facing his shadow as he would do with a real opponent; he ends the routine with a sound punch to the wall... that makes a stalactite to fall on top of him. Oddly enough, his shadow conserves independent action, and shakes its head.

The scene now shows Spike doing the battle moves with the staff, this time much better, even catching it back when it ricochets. Then, he uses the 'grappling hook' mode, and actually uses it to travel at high speed through the forest, swinging from one tree to the other.

Adam, again, uses a blizzard attack on Spike; this time, the dragon is both focused to use the staff and more physically prepared, so he stands the cold with relative ease. Only his tail gets frozen, and Spike melts the ice with a good sized flame.

Spike does some shooting practice again. Adam throws several rocks and branches at him, at high speed, using his magical telekinesis. Spike destroys all the targets with quick, small yet powerful fireballs, and the few targets he misses with his flame, breaks them in pieces with his staff.

Spike does the shadow boxing again; this time, he doesn't use just punching moves but also kicks and tail attacks. He finishes by 'headbutting' the shadow, meaning he's hitting the cave's wall with his head; Spike is mostly unfazed by this, and when the stalactite falls on top of him, Spike moves aside at the last second and hits it away with his tail. Spike grins, his shadow claps, and they both shake hands... before Spike wide opens his eyes when realizing he's shaking his own shadow's hand. At that moment, the shadow goes back to moving normally; Spike does some quick moves to confirm it, and sighs in relief... not noticing the shadow is chuckling when he turns his back on it.

The scene now shows Spike running through the forest, dodging flaming rocks that seem to appear out of nowhere. A rock wall appears right in front of him, and Spike jumps over it by using the staff as a jumping pole; another wall, higher than the first one, appears almost immediately, and Spike breaks through it with a combination of his dragon claws and a quick hit with the staff; then, several wooden spikes pop out of the ground, and Spike burns them all to ashes with his flaming breath. Spike then starts running up-hill, now dodging and jumping over rolling stones that dash at him from the top; the scene then shows Adam as the one who had been using his magic to set up the obstacles Spike is facing. When Spike gets in front of him, Adam uses his magic again to summon a huge fireball that Spike simple hits aside with his staff, and then literally runs between Adam's legs and gets past him, still running up. Adam grins when Spike finally gets to the top of the hill, and starts jumping in joy, holding his staff with both hands and over his head; of course, being Spike, he falls off the other side of the hill while jumping, but then the staff's grappling hook saves him, Spike actually grappling Adam's horn and using it to climb up in a single bound.

The music stops at this moment.

"Go on with the story, Mister Adam." Pinkie's voice is heard again.

"Thanks, Pinkie." Adam rolls his eyes before breaking the fourth wall and looking at the reader. "Please, don't ask. Trust me. You'll be saving us many headaches."

The alicorn looks back at Spike and continues with the story.

"Well done Spike, now you're ready to get the Infinity Stones." Adam then nods at Spike and motions him to climb on his back. "I'll fly you close to the first location. The next is up to you."

"Got it." Spike sat on Adam's back. "Heh... sorry about falling at the end. My mistake."

"You corrected it immediately. Also, it's kinda good you make mistakes once in a while, because it will keep you from getting overconfident." Adam smiled at his pupil, and then started flying, knowing Spike was ready, and hoping Spike really knew he was ready.


	5. The Quest for the Infinity Gems Part 1

Chapter 5 - The Quest for the Infinity Gems Part 1

"I wonder how Spike is doing." Sally sighed while feeding Pee Wee, the little Phoenix chirping when hearing the name of his 'dad'. "You miss him too, uh?"

Sally had been doing most of the bird-sitting since Spike left, almost a week ago...

"Yes, the montage saved us some story-telling time." Pinkie's voice is heard again. "You didn't think Spike became so good in less than one day, right?"

… and, back to the story, Sally, whenever not working with Twilight and her Mobian compatriotes, wondered about Spike, and why he left off like this. He obviously loved his family and friends, and he was too much of a responsible, loyal assistant to just drop off his job for such a long time; sure, he was physically and psychologically affected by the Diamond Dogs' attack, but even then, leaving for a training trip with a mysterious coach was just too much.

"It wasn't just the attack." Sally guessed. "He had some unsolved issues... something none of us realized... and the attack was just the straw that broke the camel's back. But what issues made him make this decision? And for how long had those issues been there?"

"And how did he manage to do ALL this work every day?"

Sally turned to see Tails, groaning, and carrying a large stack of books.

"Seriously, this guy did everything around here! Keeping the library organized was enough to keep anyone busy all day long, and he still made time to cook, clean, buy the groceries..." Tails sighed when finally dropping the books. "No wonder Twilight and the other ponies appreciate him so much. Spike does practically all of Twilight's chores, and even many of the other ponies' as well."

"In some aspects, Spike fulfilled the same work I did at Knotville when I was an artificial intelligence." Nicole said while she and Twilight entered the house, both of them carrying the groceries. "Back then, I managed all the maintenance details so Princess Sally could focus on leading her people and also accomplishing all her Freedom Fighters' responsibilities."

"Yes. With Spike around, I rarely had to do any chores and I could focus entirely on my studies and the occasional mission, like this work we're doing." Twilight sighed while looking at the bread she bought. "Without him, I can barely make anything edible more complex than a sandwich. Maybe... that's one of the reasons he left; he felt underestimated. Now I see how much I depend on him... I realize I didn't give him all the credit he deserves."

Twilight looked very sad when saying this. It wasn't just that she missed Spike doing this stuff for her, but she also terribly missed his company; even with all the friends she had now, Spike would always be one of her first and best. For a very long time, Spike and Cadence were the only non-blood-related friends of her, and she stopped seeing Cadence almost completely when her studies became more intense and time-consuming; the little dragon was one of Twilight's most constant factors in her life, and without him, Twilight felt as if she had lost something as important as her own magic.

"Screw that." Twilight sighed and thought out loud. "I'd give up magic for a whole year just to have him back."

Sally, feeling bad about the whole issue, and missing Spike a lot as well, comforted Twilight while Nicole and Tails carried the groceries to the kitchen.

"Don't worry, Twilight. You said it; Spike gets underestimated. He's far more capable than anyone gives him credit for. He'll be okay no matter what. And if he's with someone else, and this pony is a trainer, Spike is smart enough to have found a decent coach, and if things get bad, he'll leave the coach and contact us."

"I guess you're right." Twilight looked down. "I wonder who's this mysterious coach."

"Who."

"You said it, Owlicious." Twilight shook her head and went back to work, cutting the usual 'comedic routine' with her owl assistant. Sally petted Pee Wee and looked back at Owlicious, the nocturnal bird actually sighing a bit.

"You miss Spike too, uh?" Sally asked the owl.

"Who."

"The dragon." Sally sighed before looking back at Pee Wee. "Yes, yes, I know... but things were getting a bit too depressing here."

Meanwhile, Adam and Spike were flying to the first location. At first, Spike thought the place looked familiar, but then realized it just looked similar to the usual wild place he and Rarity went for jewel mining, but still very far away from Ponyville.

"You might not like to hear this, Spike, but this is Diamond Dogs' territory. In fact, Equestria's largest pack lives around here." Adam said to his rider.

"You mean, even MORE than the pack that lives next to Ponyville?" Spike groaned. "Perfect. Just. Perfect. I might as well bathe myself in barbecue sauce... hey, wait, why didn't you tell me this before?"

"This is my way of telling you." Adam started explaining. "You see, even the alicorns make mistakes, no matter how experienced. And I made a mistake when I had the Soul Stone; I tried finding a good hiding place for it, but it was too close to this area, and the dogs found it along with several jewels. Luckily, the dogs don't know about the stone's power, so they hadn't used it, and since practically all the ponies and most of the other creatures stay away from them, the Diamond Dogs, ironically, became my 'watch dogs' for the stone, protecting it without realizing it."

"Mmmm... very clever." Spike grinned.

"Thanks. More than, 'clever', I call it 'making the best out of a silly mistake'... heh, in fact, that's what experience is, Spike; learning from all the times you screwed up." Adam half-joked while landing. "Here it is. I can't go underground, Spike, at least, not without using a lot of magic that would alert the Diamond Dogs. You, however..."

"I can dig my own entrance." Spike grinned. "No wonder why you chose this as the first stone I'd recover."

"And also why I insisted so much in training you as much as possible before starting this mission." Adam nodded at him.

Spike understood it perfectly; basically, he was going against the very same danger that made him finally decide to leave Ponyville to better himself. The dragon jumped down the alicorn's back, and started using his dragon senses to find the closest entrance; once he did, Spike nodded at Adam and started digging, making a tunnel that ran parallel to the dogs' entrance one.

Once Spike had tunneled a few yards, he changed his tunneling to connect with the dog's main entrance. Spike then paid close attention to the ground's vibrations; when he didn't feel any, Spike realized there were no dogs walking or digging around, and finally entered the dogs' tunnel. Like the pack he already knew, Spike noticed this one also had some torches through the tunnels, providing a semi-decent illumination. Spike held his staff in a battle position, and sniffed the air, realizing the whole area was filled up with the dogs' scent, but there were no 'fresh' scents, meaning no dog had been in this tunnel for at least three hours.

Spike suddenly stopped walking when hearing some noises ahead of him; the dragon now moved silently, and realized that, if he could smell the dogs' scent, it was possible they could smell his as well. Spike heard the dogs approaching, and he quickly made a tunnel, closing the entrance behind him, just in time to avoid getting detected by the dogs. While the canines started sniffing the tunnel, trying to locate Spike, the dragon was already extending his tunnel to get past these sentinels.

When Spike finally emerged, he went back to using his nose, knowing that he had to go look for wherever the dogs stored their jewels, this being the place where he would find the stone too. After sniffing from a while, Spike found the tunnel that had the most intense scent; this meant most of the dogs were there, or spent the most time at this place, so it was either the dogs' dormitories (or equivalent) or the gems' storage room.

"Hope it's the second option." Spike thought out loud before bumping with a large dog.

"Hey, what are you doing at the dorms' entrance?" The dog growled at him.

"Great. Option One." Spike sighed. The dog was about to hit him when Spike knocked him out in a swift move, using the staff to hit the canine's chin at full force.

"Whoa. Adam's training is working." Spike grinned. He then heard another dog coming, and Spike had an idea; he hid under the unconscious dog's body. The dragon then saw the paws of the two dogs that had arrived.

"My, this guy was so tired he fell asleep before entering his room." One of the dogs chuckled. Spike groaned when recognizing the voice.

"_It's one of the dogs from the other pack! Seriously, these guys are... 'hounding' me?"_

"It seems so. Maybe he came from the jewels' room; you know how we all spend hours there." The other dog said; Spike recognized his voice as well.

"True that. You were right; this was the best place for us to recover from that beating in Ponyville. Seriously, when did the ponies start getting super bodyguards?"

"I know. I still have the scars." The second dog groaned. "Well, let's go get some sleep."

Spike saw the dogs leaving; luckily, they weren't exactly the 'nice, helping' type, so they didn't even try to carry the supposedly sleeping dog to the dormitories. Once they were far enough, Spike climbed on top of the knocked out dog, and slapped him a few times to wake him up.

"Now, listen, and listen good, because I'm only gonna say this once... where do you guys keep your jewels?" Spike growled while holding the dog by the collar with one hand, and moving the staff closer to the canine's eyes.

"I... I won't tell you.."

"I used this to knock you out with a single hit. You wanna find out ALL the things I can do to you with this staff? Trust me, it's not nice." Spike gave the dog a sly smirk. When the dog still stayed silent, Spike simply shrugged and raised the staff, pretending to be ready to attack again.

"Suit yourself. Time to neuter the puppy!"

"No, no, wait!" The dog yelped in a hurry. "Go to the second tunnel to your right, and then straight ahead. You can't miss it."

"Thanks. You are smarter than you look... then again, if you were as smart as you look, you'd be dumber than a headless worm."

"Uh... eh... that was an insult, right?"

"I rest my case." Spike shrugged and then raised the staff again. "See this staff?"

The dog gulped.

**POW!**

"You should've seen my fist." Spike grinned while rubbing his knuckles in his chest after knocking out the dog with a good left hook when the dog was distracted looking at the staff. Spike then placed a little rock under the dog's head, mimicking a pillow, and left, following the canine's instructions. When Spike got to sniff the dogs' fresh scent, he knew he was getting closer to the storage cave, and started moving with extreme caution.

When Spike found the cave, he had to make an effort from yelling in excitement; the whole cave was filled up with jewels, forming several good-sized mountain-shaped stacks. For a dragon, this was the equivalent of a kid entering a candy store, and Spike went as far as hitting his own head with the staff to remind himself he had a mission to complete. The dragon then realized there were several dogs in this cave, guarding the gems; some of them were sleeping, but others were quite alert. Spike jumped behind a pile of rubies to hide from a dog that was getting just too close, and started looking from this relatively safe spot.

"_Okay... where are the dogs keeping the stone? They don't think it's a jewel, so they didn't stack it with the gems... but they were smart enough to realize it's important, so they kept it here... or... so lazy they just dropped it somewhere around here when they realized it wasn't a jewel."_

Spike thought the 'lazy' excuse was the most reasonable explanation, and started looking around the cave, now leaving his hiding place and using the jewels' stacks to hide whenever a dog looked in his direction. After searching for a while, Spike found a pile of normal-looking rocks; obviously, the stones the dogs found mixed with the gems, and that they later piled apart from the jewels. Spike realized his staff had started vibrating slightly, and when aiming at these rocks with it, Spike finally saw one stone started glowing slightly with a green light.

"Yes. That's the stone." Spike smiled and, happy, took a handful of diamonds from a nearby pile and eat them... before realizing his mistake. He was so happy for finding the stone that he forgot about being cautious for a moment, and allowed his appetite to control him.

Spike gulped and swallowed the already chewed diamonds, and turned to see a large dog growling at him. The dragon just gave him a sheepish grin.

"Heh... excuse me, but... this isn't the All You Can Eat Buffet for Dragons, right?" Spike said while giving quick glances around him, noticing the rest of the dogs had seen him as well. "My bad. Uh... eh.. if you want the diamonds back... well, if you wait a few hours, and give me some prune juice..."

"I have a better idea. Let's open up your stomach, and we'll take them out!" The dog grabbed Spike by the collar.

"My joke was gross. Yours is disgusting. And since we're on the topic of nauseating comedy, here comes a burping." Spike growled a bit and then burped at the dog's face... and being a dragon, this burp came with a quite large flame. The dog yelped in pain and rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the flames while Spike changed his staff into its nunchucks mode, as now it was no longer time for stealth.

"Alright, it's clobberin' time! And where that came from, I'll never know!"

A dog pounced on Spike and the dragon hit him in mid-air with his weapon, stunning him, and then, in a swift move, made a roundhouse kick, combining his foot and tail in the same attack, to hit two dogs that attacked him from behind. Spike then jumped aside to hit another dog with his nunchucks, and dodged to avoid another pouncing one. The dragon then took another handful of diamonds but, instead of eating them, he started spitting them at the dogs, at full force; as Adam had pointed out, in order to chew jewels, dragons didn't have just very strong teeth but also impossibly powerful jaws, so Spike could spit the jewels almost as hard as Rarity could throw them with her magical telekinesis; the remaining dogs had to duck and cover behind the other jewel stacks to protect themselves from the very hurtful projectiles.

Spike then looked back at the Soul Stone, and started dashing to get it, but more dogs jumped in his path; now it wasn't just the cave's sentinels, but several other dogs that heard the fight and were now coming from every access tunnel. Spike continued hitting and flaming them but the dragon realized he'd get beaten by their sheer number unless he could get the Soul Stone.

Spike looked up at the cave's ceiling, realizing it was covered with stalactites, and this gave him an idea. The dragon changed the staff to its grappling hook's mode, and fired the hook at one stalactite, pulling himself up right in time to avoid a charging dog. Then, Spike started swinging his way through the cave, using the stalactites as he had used the trees when practicing in the forest, and when he passed right above the Soul Stone, Spike stretched his tail as much as he could and grabbed the stone with it.

The dragon then landed on top of a large pile of emeralds, and started shooting fireballs at the dogs; now he was in a high position, Spike had an advantage, and the dogs now had to approach him with extreme care. When Spike realized the dogs were pausing in order to get ready to attack him in overwhelming numbers, Spike placed the Soul Stone in the staff.

"Okay, let's see... what's your place in the staff... ah, here. Green rock, third space."

The moment Spike did this, the staff started beating like a heart, and the rock's green glow covered both the staff and Spike. When the dogs saw this, they all stopped in their tracks, and when Spike looked at them, they all yelped in fear and pain, as Spike's eyes started projecting the stone's energy over them, with the Soul Stone doing what it did best; taking control of the enemies' souls.

Spike felt the Soul Stone's power engulfing him, and then the screams from the dogs' souls as the stone started absorbing them. The dragon then realized the stone was also trying to absorb his own soul.

"No... " Spike said out loud, growling at the stone. "You... are not doing this... I'm the one in charge here... and you do what I tell you... and what I'm telling you now is... NO SOULS FOR YOU!"

Spike's sheer determination and focus, strengthened by Adam's training, finally got him total control of the stone, or, at least, enough to keep it from absorbing everyone's soul. The dragon then mentally commanded the stone to stop attacking the dogs, but still keeping some link to them; Spike didn't want to turn the dogs into souless beings, knowing that doing this would make him a monster as bad or even worse than Discord or the Changeling Queen, but he wasn't dumb or naive enough to lose his edge on the canines, knowing they'd surely get back to attacking him if they thought he was defenseless.

"Now, Dogs, listen up!" Spike got the dogs' attention, all of them recovering from the stone's attack. The canines whimpered and cringed in fear yet none dared escape, especially when Spike did a very decent roar-and-flame combination to get sure they'd take him seriously.

"I'm leaving now. And I'm taking this stone with me. And... a few jewels too; I didn't have dinner yet." Spike added casually before getting back to his serious tone. "But, you see, this stone allowed me to take a look inside your souls, and as disgusting as it was, I realized you mutts stole most of these jewels. So, you better return all of the gems you stole to their real owners, and only conserve those you mined yourselves. And if I hear you fleabags are back to attacking ponies, or causing any kind of problems, even if it's something as small as chewing off a newspaper, digging on someone's garden or chasing a mail-mare, I'll get back here, and that time I WON'T BE NICE!" Spike growled and made the stone to glow for emphasis. The dogs cowered at the sight.

"So... CAPICE?"

The dogs stayed silent.

"Ugh... I said, did you understand?"

"Eh... everything except the 'capice' thing." One dog meekly answered.

Spike facepalmed and groaned before giving the dogs another glare; the canines nodded at him, obviously getting the message. Spike then walked down the pile of gems and started gathering a few ones for himself.

"Mmm... let's see... one... no, two rubies. And... some diamonds... a handful of sapphires... hey, can I get a bag here?" Spike said out loud, and one dog was about to dash to get it when another stopped him.

"Moment. Eh... paper or plastic?"

"Do you guys have plastic here?" Spike arched an eyebrow. The dog just shrugged; the dragon just did the same. "Paper. More ecological."

A few moments later, Spike was filling his bag with jewels, stopping when finding a Fire Ruby; Spike almost ate it right there, but decided to save it for later. When moving to the emeralds, Spike almost lost control of his appetite again when finding a large Forest Emerald.

"Calm yourself, Spike; only get the jewels you can carry in this bag, and leave." Spike then looked at his bag, and gave a nearby dog a sly grin. "A larger bag, please."

About 5 minutes later, Adam saw a very happy Spike walking out of the dogs' lair, this time by using the main door/hole, and carrying a bag almost as big as himself.

"Grocery shopping?" Adam arched an eyebrow at him.

"Yes. Sorry, they didn't have milk." Spike said casually before showing Adam the Soul Stone. "One down, five more to go."

Adam nodded at the dragon, silently proud of his pupil's progress, and then signaled the dragon to ride him again. Spike did it, and before Adam started flying again, Spike took the Fire Ruby and the Forest Emerald out of this bag, and put them along with the Glacier Sapphire he had left with Adam.

"You brought your lunch?" Adam asked him, noticing what Spike was doing.

"Yes, but... I might reserve these jewels for later." Spike then got silent for a moment. "I used the Soul Stone."

"And, how it worked?"

"It was cool... and scary." Spike admitted. "I could feel the power... and... how the stone wanted to feed on my soul... and the dogs'... it took me a lot of effort and time to control it... well, maybe it was just a few seconds but, to me, it felt like hours. Do all the stones do this?"

"Well, not all will make you feel... bad when using them, but yes, you'll need to use all your concentration and will force to gain control over their power. That's also one of the reasons I wanted you to get the Soul Stone first, since its power is hard to control, and, once you proved yourself capable of commanding it, as it happened, it proves you'll also be able to control the other stones." Adam explained as they finally left.

The alicorn started flying around, apparently at random, while Spike took out the scroll describing the stones and started reading about the Soul Stone; even if he had already done this, the dragon decided it was a good idea to re-check, as Twilight often did at home when studying a particularly interesting or tough subject. As Adam said, the Soul Stone's power was particularly hard to control, due to its soul-absorbing capacities; besides this, the stone could also allow the user to steal, control, manipulate and alter souls, living or dead, and is the gateway to an idyllic, pocket universe (something that was both cool and scary, since it meant the trapped souls were in a nice place but also unable to escape). The dragon then re-read the part that made this stone particularly dangerous; it was sentient and with a hunger for souls, and Spike would probably get physically and mentally exhausted if overusing it, risking his own soul if running out of energy to control the stone's power.

"_Power..."_ Spike pondered about this, and realized what stone he'd need now, in order to control the other stones' energies more easily.

"Adam, please, fly West. We're going to the dragons' territory."

"You're driving now." Adam grinned yet obeyed.

After almost one hour of flying (with a five minutes recess for lunch), Adam landed on top of a huge mountain; while recovering the Soul Stone required Spike to go underground, getting the Power Stone would require him to go up, to the caves on top of the dragons' territory. Spike remembered this place from the time he tried to join the other dragons; it wasn't a nice experience aside the fact he got to 'adopt' Pee Wee; even if some would say he practically kidnapped a newborn bird, most would agree that, in fact, he saved the little phoenix, since, without him, the gang of teen dragons would have destroyed the egg.

"Just as nice as I remembered. And I am being VERY sarcastic." Spike groaned.

"Yes, I noticed." Adam them pointed at a cave right ahead of them, the other side of the Dragons Roost, that was basically a semi-active volcanic crater. "Most dragons only come here during their migration, but there are some who reside here permanently. Hope you ate enough jewels so you don't get tempted or distracted by the ones you'll find there."

"Don't worry, I ate enough. And I still have the biggest ones." Spike paused. "In fact, I'm gonna try trading these gems."

"The jewels for the stone? Good idea; a non-violent alternative." Adam nodded. "You aren't taking the Soul Stone with you?"

"No, I don't wanna use it again until I get the Power Stone, so I can have enough strength to control the Soul one without getting tired... besides, the Power Stone is supposed to boost the other stones' effects, so I'll only be able to use the Soul Stone's full capacity when using the Power one." Spike explained.

"Good thinking. Still, be careful." Adam nodded while Spike handled him the Soul Stone, removing it from the Staff for the time being. Spike also left the Glacier Sapphire with Adam, as he was still thinking about giving it to Sally later, and only brought the Fire Ruby and the Forest Emerald.

Unlike his incursion at the Diamond Dogs' lair, this time Spike entered the Dragons Roost without trying to be stealthy. In fact, he wanted the other dragons to notice him, and realize he was coming in peace. As he walked through the crater, a few large, adult dragons looked at him, but gave Spike little interest, as most grown-up dragons do with the youngsters unless they try to steal their jewels. This was, no doubt, part of the reason most of the teen dragons were big jerks, since the adults didn't try to educate or restrain them, and allowed their youngsters to mature at their own pace, something that at times could take decades or even centuries.

"_And some still wonder why I consider myself lucky for being raised by ponies."_ Spike pondered, his thoughts making him miss his friends at Ponyville; even if, obviously, he missed Sally a lot, at this moment the one he missed the most was Twilight, who had been a big sister for him, and was one of Spike's main role models.

When Spike finally got to the cave, he realized the other dragons finally were giving him some attention. Obviously, they didn't like the idea of Spike entering here, but, again, did nothing to stop the little one, and in fact, they started paying more attention to Adam. The large alicorn was an intruder, but, as even the most antisocial dragon knew that a full grown alicorn could be a dangerous opponent, the dragons just kept an eye on him, knowing that the alicorns also realized fighting a full grown dragon wasn't an easy task either. So, while Adam stayed at the Roost, the dragons would pay little attention to Spike.

The purple dragon entered the cave and, after walking for a few minutes, found piles and piles of jewels. Some of them were so bright that they actually provided a good illumination inside the otherwise dark cavern. Spike took a deep breath, trying to use his nose to find the dragon that would, surely, be guarding these jewels... sniffed not one, but several dragons.

"Yes. Of course. Why not them?" Spike groaned and rolled his eyes. "In three... two... one..."

"Hey, look who's back!"

Spike sighed and looked up at the teen, red and yellow dragon landing in front of him; he was soon followed by several others among the same age. Even if much smaller than the adults, the teen dragons were still much bigger than Spike.

"Yeah, Garble, it's the little ponies' friend!" An orchid dragon, with blonde hair-like scales that covered his eyes, grinned at Spike.

"Wow, very impressive, Fume. How can you even see me with that thing covering your eyes?" Spike grinned at the larger dragon. "Two words; hair-cut."

Fume growled at this while his companions laughed.

"Oh, look, the little one grew a spine!" Vex, a large, obese purple dragon mocked Spike.

"Of course he had to grow a spine; he hadn't grown anything else!" Puff, the albino one of the group, grinned at Spike, his joke getting general laughter again.

"So, are you done with the jokes?" Spike rolled his eyes.

"Why, you don't like our sense of humor?" Garble, the red leader, smirked at Spike. The little dragon just sighed and shook his head.

"Garble, those can't even be considered jokes. I mean... come on, guys, where's your creativity?" Spike smirked. "How about... 'this dragon is so small that he has to pass by the same place twice to form a shadow'? Or... go for a classic, like 'Hey, Spike, how is weather down there?'. And this one is good... 'this guy is so small that he can't even hold his breath'."

Garble was surprised at Spike's reaction, while the other dragons started laughing loudly.

"Garble, we should conserve this guy around! He's a great buffon!" Clump, the large, brown dragon, was almost rolling on the ground laughing.

"Yeah, a buffon... it takes one to know another." Spike grinned. Clump was so dumb he didn't even get the insult, but the other dragons did and laughed even more.

"Yeah, you're kinda funny, Shorty, but we hadn't forgotten you and your pony pals." Garble stopped acting friendly and went into full bully mode. "Last time, that purple unicorn made a fool out of us."

"Oh, come on, she can't have the full blame. You did more than half of the job." Spike grinned at Garble.

"Okay, wise guy, what do you want? If you are trying to join us again..."

"Garble, really, I wouldn't trust any club that accepts me as a member." Spike rolled his eyes again and then took out the reference sheet Adam gave him. "Look, I came here looking for this."

"Uh... the grocery store is three miles south." Fume pointed out.

"It's not my groceries list."

"Good; the prices there are criminal." Fume frowned.

"Back to topic, I'm looking for this." Spike showed the sheet to Garble, pointing at the Power Stone.

Garble looked at it and shook his head.

"It's a shame. A real shame."

"What?"

"That I never learned to read."

Spike face palmed, groaning, and, again, showed Garble the sheet.

"Okay, Mister Literate, just tell me if you have this stone!"

Garble, frowning, looked at the sheet again, ignoring the letters (that he didn't understand anyway) and focused on the very accurate pics/drawings.

"Yes... I think we have this stone over there." Garble pointed at a distance. "Vex uses it to crack nuts."

Vex, a very fat purple dragon, nodded in agreement.

"Oh, for... wait, cracking nuts? We eat jewels! Why you even bother cracking the nuts?" Spike asked Vex, who just shrugged at him.

"I don't like getting shell pieces in my teeth."

"And, sadly, that's the most logical thing I've heard since I entered here." Spike sighed. "Fine, let's talk business here. I really need that stone."

"Why, you collect them?" Garble mocked him. "Don't tell me; you got bored of collecting butterflies."

"I have never collected butterflies. Fluttershy wouldn't forgive me." Spike said the last part under his breath before looking back at Garble. "I wanna buy it. I brought some gems with me, and I'm gonna trade them for the stone."

Now all the teen dragons were getting very interested.

"What kind of gems?"

Spike decided to show just one jewel at a time, in case he could pay for the stone with just one gem and save the other. Spike took out the Fire Ruby; and it was enough to almost drive them crazy.

"THE PRECIOUS... I MUST HAVE THE PRECIOUS..." Puff almost grabbed the ruby right there but Spike moved it out of the way right on time, and then slapped Puff's hands.

"Down!" Spike frowned at him before looking back at Garble. "So, we have a deal?"

Garble was about to accept but his greedy nature gave his brain a very needed intelligence boost.

"Mmm... I don't know... you obviously care a lot about this stone if you're willing to pay this much... so... I bet you'd pay even more." Garble folded his arms, grinning.

"_Just my luck; the only thing you are smart for is doing business."_ Spike rolled his eyes and took out the second gem. When the other dragons saw the Forest Emerald, even Garble started drooling.

"OOOOOH... SO DELICIOUS..." Garble and his gang were pretty much hypnotized by this.

"So... we have a deal?" Spike grinned while showing both gems to the gang. He couldn't blame them, at least not this time; in their place, he would be drooling too.

Most of the teens were ready to say 'Yes' when Garble stopped them. The red dragon gave Spike a predatory smile.

"_Uh. Oh. That's the same smile Rainbow gets when Applejack's family makes cider." _Spike gulped a bit. "_Except that Rainbow doesn't have fangs."_

"We accept your deal, Spike... but... wait, I just remembered something." Garble pretended to have an idea and his sly smirk became very obvious. "You are alone. No unicorn to teleport you away this time. Not even any other pony to help you escape. And we're more than you. Bigger. Stronger. You know what I mean."

Spike frowned at this. Garble grinned evilly. The other dragons got dumbfound expressions.

"Uh... can you explain what do you mean?" Fume asked.

Garble and Spike got annoyed expressions and turned back at the other dragons.

"That we're stealing his jewels without giving him the rock." Garble explained.

"Ooooooh..." The gang chorused.

"I really, REALLY, didn't want to do this." Spike sighed. He then morphed his staff into its nunchucks mode.

"Nice toy. I'm gonna use it as toothpick." Garble grinned as he and his gang surrounded Spike.

"Well, the toothpick is for after eating, so... HERE, BOYS, LUNCH TIME!" Spike threw the ruby and emerald over the gang's heads, and the result was immediate; all of them, even Garble, forgot about the attack, and they all pounced on the jewels to start fighting over them. Spike simply grinned and shook his head.

"You guys are lucky for being so strong, or, with this intelligence of yours, you'd be more defenseless than a snail in a fancy restaurant." Spike thought out loud. Vex heard him and stopped fighting for the time being.

"Uh, what did you..."

WHACK!

Spike gave him a very strong hit right in his muzzle, taking Vex down; the large dragon rolled on the floor, holding his muzzle in pain. Before the other dragons realized this, Spike attacked them, still with the nunchucks mode, and when the teens were stunned by the multiple hits, their little opponent changed the nunchucks to bo staff mode, focusing on one dragon at a time. In less than 10 seconds, most of the gang was knocked down; the only one standing was Garble, who managed to catch the staff when Spike was about to hit his head.

"TAKE THIS, YOU MORON!" Garble roared before attacking Spike with a very large flame, so powerful it would hurt even a dragon Garble's size. So it was understandable Garble was stunned when it didn't even faze Spike.

"And now, you take this!" Spike made his own attack, but, instead of fire, he shoot a smoke cloud at Garble's face, blinding him. Garble released the bo staff, and Spike lost no time to hit him several times in his knees, shoulders and tail, leaving Garble practically defenseless before finishing the job with a good roundhouse kick/tail attack at the head.

"You should have accepted the deal, Garble. Much less painful." Spike grinned, not noticing Puff recovering and attacking him from behind; the albino dragon snatched the staff from Spike's hands and grinned.

"Heh.. let's see what you can do without your toy."

"With pleasure." Spike grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Round One. Fight!"

Three seconds later...

"Heh. Spike wins. Perfect." Spike grinned while dusting off his hands and recovering his staff, that had fallen from Puff's hands when the little dragon started beating him up. It was so fast that Puff was knocked out before falling.

"Nnnnngh... what... happened... to you?" Garble, barely conscious and still on the ground, looked up at Spike; it was very humiliating for the larger dragon to look up at the little one.

"Just showing you that living with ponies doesn't make you a weakling." Spike grinned. "Now, you're gonna tell me where's the stone, or I'm gonna turn this staff into something much more painful."

"I... will... never humiliate myself..."

"It's over there." Vex interrupted Garble. The red dragon groaned while Spike thanked Vex and went to find the stone.

The Power Stone was right where Vex told him, on top of several smaller rocks. It wasn't hard to find since it was a bright red color.

"And the red one goes... here." Spike, smiling, placed the Power Stone in the staff's first hole. One second later, Spike felt himself so strong he knew he would be able to beat Big Macintosh in a hoof/arm wrestling match without breaking a sweat.

"Whoa... so this is why it's called the Power Stone!" Spike said in awe. He then grabbed a nearby boulder, that probably weighed more than 2 tons, and lifted it over his head just with one hand; and then, Spike used his fire breath on it, turning the boulder into hot lava in a moment.

Spike, smiling, started walking out of the cave, but stopped when walking next to the Fire Ruby and the Forest Emerald.

"Mmm... okay, I brought these as a payment... but you guys tried to steal them from me, so, technically, they're still mine. And since you attacked me, it means you didn't accept the deal, so I don't need to leave them here." Spike grinned. After a few moments, he just shrugged and grabbed the emerald leaving the ruby for the gang. "There. You keep this one; I'm in a good mood. Besides, I like the green ones better."

"T-thank... you..." Clump, in pain, nodded at a leaving Spike.

Garble, however, wasn't letting him go so easily. Despite the pain, he stood up, and charged at Spike from behind; the red dragon kicked, punched, slashed, and even dropped a rock on top of Spike... and the purple dragon barely noticed, and this didn't even slow him down.

"Mmm... you guys have mosquitoes around here? I feel some very little bites." Spike commented, very casually; the Power Stone was making him so strong and resistant that it would take an adult dragon's attacks just to slow him down.

Garble, impressed but still enraged, stood in front of Spike.

"YOU'RE ONLY LEAVING THIS PLACE OVER MY DEAD BODY..."

Spike, whistling and smiling, simply walked over Garble, the red dragon feeling as if a full grown buffalo was stomping on him.

"Okay... my hurt body... not 'dead'... just hurt... VERY hurt..." Garble groaned in pain.

Spike left the cave, and, this time, all the adult dragons were paying him attention, and some actually looked wary at him. Apparently, now that Spike had the Power Stone, these dragons could somehow sense he was as powerful as them, or even much more powerful, so they gave him the same respect and attention they'd give to any serious competitor.

"Whoa. Talking about a change in the mood." Spike thought out loud. He then noticed a huge, golden dragon was approaching him. Spike then realized he was still holding the Forest Emerald, and, apparently this was enough to make this dragon take a risk and try to steal it.

"Mine." The yellow dragon grabbed Spike in his massive, clawed hand.

One moment later, the adult had to release the little one, as Spike had used a flaming attack, powerful enough to hurt even a full grown dragon. The yellow giant looked down at Spike, who was now tapping the ground, using a pose he had seen Sonic use at times.

"I'm waitiiiiiiing."

The huge dragon looked at the little one's eyes, realizing this purple dragon meant business, and that he had the power to back up his attitude. The yellow dragon moved aside, and Spike, very politely, nodded at him and muttered a silent 'Thank you' before getting back to walking; the yellow dragon went back to his place, without losing sight of the little purple one; all the other adults had seen this, and were now looking a bit nervous, yet still not agressive at all, realizing Spike certainly was strong enough to be a threat but, apparently, he was leaving in peace, so they had no reason to fight him.

"Very impressive, Spike." Adam said to his pupil when he finally got back: the alicorn, obviously, had seen the whole thing.

"Thanks. I made a decent deal with the other dragons." Spike grinned while showing him the emerald. "I got the stone at half-price. A great bargain."

Spike then grabbed the Soul Stone, and placed it in the staff. As before, Spike felt how the Soul Stone's energies invaded him, and tried to get his soul, but now he had the Power Stone, the purple dragon was strong enough in both mind and body to fully control the Soul one without risking himself.

"It works, Adam. I... feel the Soul Stone's energy... but now I feel I'm in complete control. It's great!" Spike was now extremely happy. The Soul Stone was useful when facing the Diamond Dogs, but its power scared him as well; without control, this stone was even more dangerous than whatever enemy attacking him at the time. Now, Spike could use the Power Stone to control the other, and even boost its energy if necessary.

"Wanna go get another of the stones, or you need a break?" Adam asked him.

"Mmm... right now, I feel with enough energy to do a dozen Iron Pony Competitions without resenting it! Let's go get another one!" Spike said in excitement before using the Power Stone in Adam, restoring all the energy the alicorn had used to fly them here.

"Heh... thanks, Spike. Okay, let's go then." Adam nodded at his pupil and signaled the dragon to ride him.

As the alicorn and his rider flew away, Garble crawled out of the cave, just in time to see them leaving.

"Okay... I'm really going to hurt that stupid shorty..." Garble growled before cringing in deep pain. "But first... somebody go to the grocery store... I think they sell aspirins too."


	6. The Foxes, The Wolves and The Dragons

Chapter 6 - The Foxes, The Wolves and The Dragons

That night, long after Spike left, Garble left the Roost, now more or less recovered from the beating, and started flying to Ponyville.

"Oh, that stupid little... I don't know how he did it, but he's gonna pay..." Garble thought out loud, growling. He definitely have had enough of Spike humiliating him; it was bad enough when he and his pony friends tricked the dragon gang and escaped with that phoenix egg, but getting beaten by Spike, the little dragon without any back-up, was too much.

Garble already knew where Spike lived, as he had tracked him after their first meeting. However, back then, Garble didn't do a thing since, even if he hated to admit it, he knew he was no match for the purple unicorn's magic, and finding out Spike lived with her wasn't good for his revenge. Plus, even if a dragon is stronger than any pony (or so he thought), Garble wasn't stupid enough to think a few teen dragons could fight a whole city of ponies, so he decided to put his revenge on hold. Now that he was finally doing it, Garble was approaching on his own, without his gang, as this would be a stealthy attack, knowing that the ponies would be over them the moment they were spotted. Besides, some of his gang members were still very sore after Spike's attack, and weren't in flying conditions.

Garble landed at Ponyville's borders, and started approaching by land, as silent and carefully as possible. It was already late at night, so most of the ponies were already asleep, but he wasn't taking risks; even if he wasn't book-smart, like practically any other dragon, Garble was still a sly, cunning predator when necessary, so he could approach and surprise a target without being spotted until the very last moment. Plus, on his way here, he made a quick stop at Everfree Forest, and picked up a bunch of flowers that, when someone inhaled its pollen, would fall asleep instantly; it would fit his plan, that consisted in catching Spike without giving him any chance of fighting back (and Garble DEFINITELY didn't want to fight him fairly) or yelling for help, and then escape the town as quickly as possible; he also brought a large sack where he would be able to carry Spike much better than just holding him.

"Heh... this is the perfect crime. Nobody can stop me now." Garble grinned while walking aside Sugarcube Corner. Unknown to him, a certain pink pony, despite sleeping, was now having a 'combo' of weird tail and hooves moves; even asleep, the Pinkie Sense was still active... of course, Pinkie herself wasn't, so she wasn't waking up... yet.

Garble finally arrived at the library, frowning at the very idea of making a special building (or, in this case, a treehouse) just to stores books. The red dragon took a look inside, and noticed a shadow moving,; since whoever walking in there was doing it in two legs, it was obvious this creature wasn't a pony, therefore, even if it was very dark, Garble deduced it had to be Spike.

Garble opened the window and then used a very light flame on his special flowers; by doing this, the smoke got mixed with the pollen, and by moving his wings, Garble created a little wind that carried the smoke into the library. A few moments later, his prey fell, already snoring.

"Heh. I'm such a genius. Now..." Garble entered the room, very slowly, but, before he could take a better look at his victim...

"**WAKE UP! EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" **

Garble cringed when hearing a mare's yelling; it was so loud that every pony in the nearby houses was now waking up and turning on the lights. The red dragon realized he had no time to lose, and just threw the sack over the unconscious victim and carried it outside, at full speed, and he was already flying away the moment he stepped out of the library.

A few moments later, Pinkie Pie, followed by Amy and the Elastic Wolf Twins, plus several ponies, were heading to the library. Even if some protested for this rude wake up call, the moment the pink mare said 'Pinkie Sense", everyone agreed there had to be a strong reason behind it.

"Twilight, Sally, Tails, Nicole, Pee Wee, Owlicious... boy, too many creatures living here... wake up!" Pinkie entered the house by kicking open the door, and she instantly covered her face and started coughing. "Who was smoking here? Oh... I feel... dizzy..."

"Smoke... there's a fire in here!" Amy, who was right behind Pinkie, gasped at this. Even if Garble didn't produce a very thick smoke, it was still very notorious. The pink hedgehog and the wolf twins morphed their hands into large fans, and started blowing the smoke out of the house. While they did this, some of the neighbors were already searching for the house/library's residents, to see if they were fine.

Meanwhile, Garble was already flying over The Everfree Forest and very far from Ponyville. The dragon looked back every few moments, fearing the town's pegasi would be following him, but relaxed a bit when realizing there were no ponies around. He also noticed Spike had started moving; apparently, the smoke didn't affect him for long, probably because, after all, Spike was a dragon too, and therefore was naturally 'build' to stand fire and smoke.

"Heh, stop struggling, Midget. We're flying right now, and even if you became a mini bodybuilder, you still have no wings. Break free of this sack, and you'll break your head when falling." Garble laughed but stopped when a female voice replied.

"One correction, Sir. You didn't catch Spike."

A moment later, Garble noticed the sack was inflating, as if he had captured a balloon and it was inflating by itself inside the sack. The dragon stopped in mid air and decided to take a look at whatever creature he had captured... and then dropped the sack in surprise when his captive broke free, ripping apart the sack in the process.

"What the..." Garble couldn't believe it; whatever he had captured, looked like a large, red and black balloon, and now it was gently floating down to earth. "Hey, come back here!"

Nicole noticed the dragon was now diving in her direction, and realized she needed to move faster; first, she expelled the air inside her, blowing it at Garble, with enough force to delay him for a second, and then, still in spherical shape, she condensed her body, changing from a balloon to a solid ball that fell at great speed. Garble, recovering form the initial surprise, got back to chasing her, trying to capture this 'weird shape-changing girl' before she touched the ground.

The moment Nicole landed, the force of the impact caused her to bounce up, with great power due to the height she fell from, and she hit Garble in mid air; the collision sent Nicole, again, down to the forest, while Garble had to cover his stomach and try to catch his breath back.

"NNNNNGH...that's it! I've been beaten enough today... this time, I'll be the beater!" Garble, very angry, made a dive again, and started chasing Nicole through the forest, the shape-shifter now using her ball form to ricochet at top speed, accelerating to try escaping Garble, and also trying to find the way back to Ponyville. Unfortunately for her, Garble had already taken her very far from town, and she couldn't change back to normal and try finding a calmer way to locate herself with the dragon still after her.

Garble, used to fly in difficult terrain, finally managed to get right above Nicole, and extended his claws to grab her. Nicole realized she now had to fight back, and made a ricocheting attack with a nearby tree. Garble, now expecting this move, protected himself with his wings, hitting the 'ball' back. Nicole repeated this attack several times but Garble was able to dodge or hit her before she could do any significant damage. The elastic female finally managed to perform a successful attack by surprising Garble; after he hit her again, she extended her arm and grabbed a nearby branch, using it to 'whiplash' herself back at Garble much faster and before he expected (the dragon thought she would need to bounce back on the ground or a tree before attacking her again), hitting Garble's stomach, much harder than the first time, and sending him against a large rock; Garble groaned in pain but remained conscious and still ready to fight.

"No stupid ball is gonna defeat me!" Garble growled. The 'ball' stopped bouncing and Garble was more than surprised when Nicole morphed back to her normal self.

"Maybe you'll feel less humiliated if you're defeated in normal physical battle then." Nicole said in a calm yet firm tone. "And once I defeat you, you'll tell me the reasons you kidnapped me."

Garble was surprised, not just due to the transformation, but also by Nicole's looks; he had never seen a creature like her before. Not a pony, dragon or gryphon, yet still a sentient being, and apparently very well educated; not to mention that her eyes, tail, body shape and pretty much everything about her appearance was almost... hypnotic.

"Whoa. Snap out of it, Garble..." The dragon shook his head before realizing something. "I just said it out loud, right?"

"Yes. You did... Garble, right?" Nicole said, approaching a bit more. "My name is Nicole. If you want, we can discuss this in a civilized, rational manner..."

"N-no, I'm not rational!" Garble stopped. "I mean, I'm not civilized!" Pause. "No, no, I mean... argh, I'm gonna beat you up!"

Nicole sighed, realizing this creature wouldn't be reasonable, so she morphed into her taller, muscular self, again, impressing Garble.

"Whoa... what are the ponies feeding you?"

"Apples and other fruits, mostly." Nicole shrugged. "Now, I'm asking you again..."

Garble didn't let her finish, as he pounced on her; the dragon threw a punch at her face but Nicole grabbed his fist and then punched him back, sending the dragon against the large rock. Despite the impact, Garble wasn't giving up, so he now tried hitting her with his tail; Nicole grabbed his tail with both hands, and swung him several feet away, until Garble impacted against a nearby tree.

The dragon, visibly stunned but still stubborn, charged at her, trying to tackle the muscular female, but he couldn't even move Nicole, who just caught him and stood on her place despite Garble's best efforts. She then lifted him over her head and smashed the dragon against the ground, knocking him out.

"I hope this will make him more reasonable." Nicole sighed and morphed back to normal. Then, she started smacking Garble's cheeks, not that hard to avoid hurting him (even more) but still enough to wake him up.

"Nnnnngh... did you see the minotaur that hit me?" Garble groaned when finally reacting. When he saw Nicole, he gasped and took a deep breath, but Nicole wrapped his muzzle with one arm while giving him a stare that would make Fluttershy proud.

"I know you're trying to use your flaming attack. Well, I'm not letting you do it; and I'm warning you." Nicole was now very serious. "So far I've been kind enough to fight you on even terms, but, if you start using your fire, I'll need to start fighting you SERIOUSLY. So now I'm releasing you, and we'll talk like two rational beings, unless you insist on attacking me until I lose my patience. And I mean this; you better not make me angry... you'll not like me when I'm angry."

Garble gulped, both scared and fascinated by this female, and then nodded at her, making clear he'll not use his fire again or try fighting her anyway. Nicole nodded and released him.

"Good. Now, Garble, you're taking me back to Ponyville. And while we do that, you're gonna explain to me and my friends why you kidnapped me in the first place. Not flying; walking. It might take more time but this way I'm making sure you'll not try to escape."

Garble sighed. Apparently, this creature was smart enough to realize he had the edge in an aerial battle, so she was keeping him grounded, literally.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Twilight, Sally and Tails were finally awake again, and everyone noticed Nicole wasn't present. Applejack then found some footprints outside the house/library.

"Hey, these look like Spike's footprints, but much bigger." The blonde pony said. Lobo approached and sniffed the prints, nodding at her.

"You're right. A dragon was here; and it definitely wasn't Spike. I might not be familiar with other dragons' scent, but I'm almost sure this dragon was a bit older than Spike."

"But you said that Spike isn't in talking terms with other dragons." Lupe said to Twilight.

"Yes, he isn't... but he angered some dragons the last time he was at the Dragon Roost. All of them teen dragons; the adult ones didn't even notice him." Twilight frowned. "Guess this means one of those dragons wanted to get even with Spike, and when he didn't find him, this dragon tried kidnapping his friends..."

"And since Pinkie Pie woke up the whole town, the dragon only had time to capture one victim." Rarity concluded.

"But why Nicole?" Maria asked, a bit confused; after all, Tails was smaller and easier to carry, and Twilight was a very well known associate of Spike, so they would be more logical targets.

"Nicole had been taking care of Pee Wee, at least tonight; she surely was giving the little one his midnight snack." Sally explained, remembering Spike's list of instructions to take care of the baby phoenix. "That means she wasn't at her bed, and this dragon found her first."

"Well, I say we now go find Nicole, and give this dragon a very well deserved beating." Sonic said, with Rainbow and Knuckles agreeing instantly.

"Yes, but it will be hard to find them because, unlike Spike, most dragons can fly; it will not be easy to follow his scent." Twilight said while looking at her wolf friends. "Our chances increase by splitting up; some of us will try to track down this dragon while the rest goes directly to the Dragon Roost."

"It makes sense. Those dragons aren't as smart as Spike, so they would be dumb enough to get Nicole precisely to the place we'd search for her first." Rarity added.

"But if at least one of them has a working brain, they wouldn't go there. Twi is right; it's better if we split up." Applejack agreed.

Maria and Lupe nodded at each other, and a moment later they both split up into their individual clones.

"We're taking one group to the Dragon Roost." Warrior said while flexing her biceps. Leeta and Lyco joined her, deciding they wanted to go there.

"And the rest of us will assist in tracking down the dragon by scent." Wisdom added.

Soon, the two teams were formed; since Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been at the Dragon Roost before, they offered to guide Warrior, Courage, Tomboy, Daemon, Sonic and Knuckles, while the rest would form the 'search team'. Since going to the Dragon Roost would probably end in a battle with an adult dragon, or even more than one, it was more logical to make most of the toughest fighters go there.

Meanwhile, at Everfree Forest, Garble had finished explaining how Spike had humiliated him and the other dragons.

"Whoa. Spike's training had been quite successful." Nicole commented, visibly impressed. "And you, how come you and your friends had this... magic stone... all this time, and none realized it would make the holder incredibly powerful?"

"Hey, it wasn't our fault!" Garble groaned, very ashamed to admit this. "It's just... it wasn't a jewel, and we dragons don't care about any rock that isn't a jewel! How would I know it was magical?"

"But didn't you realize it when Spike gave you that list? Of course I support him, I mean, he's my friend, but I think you made a critical tactical error; once reading that the stone would give you those abilities... and I'm guessing that scroll gave a good description of the stone... why you didn't try to get the stone before him and gain the super strength and endurance?"

"Dragons don't read!" Garble almost roared. "Reading is for wimps..."

"So, Spike is considered a wimp despite the fact he defeated you all despite not having the stone at that point?"

"Yes, he is... I mean, no, of course... I..." Garble didn't want to keep calling Spike a wimp since, obviously, that would make him and the other dragons even weaker wimps. "Look, we, the normal dragons, don't make books..."

"Write."

"Yeah, we don't write either..."

"No, I mean, it's not 'make books' but 'write books'. Sure, when you write a book you're technically making it, but the proper way of speaking is 'writing a book'." Nicole paused. "But what you said reveals you dragons are normally illiterate."

"You lost me with that... I lit a rate?"

"Illiterate. It means you don't read or write, not necessarily because you don't want to but because you can't, or, more precisely, you don't know how to do it. If you were incapable of reading by your own nature, Spike wouldn't be able to read at all."

"Oh, please, don't compare me with that guy." Garble groaned. "I used to dislike him for being a wimp raised by ponies... but now I dislike him because, despite being raised by ponies, he's definitely not a wimp anymore even if he still does wimpy things like reading!"

"What's wrong with reading?" Nicole arched an eyebrow at him, visibly upset. Garble realized this and knew he was somehow offending her.

"Oh... right... you are staying at a library... you probably like to read a lot." Garble sighed. "Great, another creature that does wimpy things and yet can kick my tail without breaking a sweat."

"It seems to me that you're a victim of your own pre-conceived ideas about culture and your kind traditionally isolating themselves from other species." Nicole noticed Garble's blank stare. "I mean, you dragons don't interact with ponies or with other creatures on a regular basis, and therefore dislike everything they do, even when those activities or abilities aren't necessarily harmful."

"Yeah... you see, we, the dragons, are the most powerful creatures in Equestria." Garble paused. "Well... adult dragons... and not by... using magic, but by strength and size. So... well..."

"I understand. Your species respect physical power, and consider it more important than magical abilities, crafting and other not-combative activities."

"Yeah!" Garble exclaimed, a bit too happy.

"You like the fact I can understand your point of view?"

"That, and the fact I actually could understand what you just said!" Garble took a deep breath and got a little smile. "I mean, yes, we dragons are... strong guys... but I don't like others thinking that only because I'm big and strong I'm also dumb... just because I can't read... or write... or do fancy talking... or cook... or building a decent house instead of living in any cave I happen to find..."

Garble stopped walking, looked down and sighed.

"You must think I'm an idiot."

"Garble..."

"Usually I don't have problems with that... I mean, with being an idiot... no, that wasn't right... argh! What I mean is, I normally can handle myself just by being a tough guy, and me not knowing lots of stuff isn't that important when the others around me have even less smarts than me... but when I am with someone who has both brains and power... I feel so... useless." Garble now looked close to depression.

Nicole then surprised Garble by wrapping her body around his, and positioning her face in front of the dragon's, giving him a kind smile. Being red scaled, the blush in Garble's cheeks wasn't that noticeable, but it was there.

"Now, listen. I used to feel useless too... sometimes. Maybe you won't believe it, but I used to lack a physical body; I was pretty much like a ghost, capable of talking to others but not touching them. When I got the... ability... the chance to have a real body... It was wonderful. I felt alive; really alive." Nicole sighed and smiled. "And if I could do that, by means that are VERY hard to achieve even on my world, then you are more than capable to have both brains and brawn. You only need someone to educate you properly; I don't know how long I'll be here in Equestria, but, if you make an effort to put your xenophobic ways aside... meaning, you will stop discriminating all the non-dragon species... I'll be more than glad to tutor you."

Garble blushed even more and nodded. Nicole was also feeling very happy; Garble wasn't the simple-minded bully she had thought at first; he certainly had hidden depths, and a genuine desire to better up himself, something Nicole liked a lot. The fox unwrapped herself, and then she and Garble continued walking, both now much more comfortable with each other's company.

In the meantime, the Dragon Roost group was already arriving there. Sonic was chosen (for precisely, he jumped at the chance) to make a quick search around the place, to see if Spike was in the open; a couple minutes later, he returned to the place his companions were waiting for him, behind some rocks.

"I gave a look to the whole place; three times." Sonic informed. "Spike must be in some cave because I didn't see him in the open."

"Then, we'll need to start exploring the caves." Daemon said, the others nodding in agreement.

"Okay, we're splittin' up; Sonic, Rainbow, yah two are our fastest ones, so yah are exploring that one." Applejack took command while pointing at a large cave. "If Ah remember right, Spike said this cave leads to a series of tunnels. Yah two can explore them much faster than any of us."

"You got it, AJ." Rainbow grinned before hoof/fist pumping with Sonic.

"The rest of us will explore the other caves." AJ then looked at the cave that, unknown to her, was the same where Spike found the Power Stone. "Leeta and Lyco, yah two go there. And remember, no using yar powers or fighting unless the dragons find you."

"Crystal clear, Ma'am." Leeta, jokingly, morphed into a western sheriff outfit before turning at Lyco. "Come on, Par'ner, let's go find our Compadre."

"I think that, when it's a female, it's 'Comadre'." Warrior arched an eyebrow at Leeta.

"Who are you, Wisedom?" Lyco grinned at the muscular clone. Warrior just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

The groups separated to start searching; not surprisingly, Warrior and Daemon were a team, since she was one of Maria's clones; Courage teamed up with Knuckles while Applejack went with Tomboy.

Leeta and Lyco morphed into snakes, so they pretty much crawled their way to the cave without any of the adult dragons noticing them; the large reptiles were mostly asleep, but, once in a while, one of them moved his ears or opened an eye, so it was obvious they were still watching their territory. The elastic females reached the cave and then morphed back to normal.

"Mmm... this place smells like dragon..." Lyco said while taking a deep sniff.

"Eh, Lyco, this is dragon territory. It's like entering our room and saying 'hey, it smells like wolf', don't you think?" Leeta arched an eyebrow.

"I know that. But take deep sniff; this place was visited by Spike, and it was very recently."

Leeta did as her twin said, and realized she was right; Spike visited this place less than 24 hours ago.

"Mmm... you are right. And I think I feel the scent of the dragon that kidnapped Nicole." Leeta frowned as they moved deeper inside the cave.

"But I smell no Nicole. So... that dragon lives here, but he hadn't returned yet." Lyco guessed.

"Yes." Leeta paused. "Don't you think we're forgetting something?"

"Mmmm... oh, right; we have to talk in a low voice so nobody can find us." Lyco grinned. Both wolves stopped walking and gulped a bit; their entrance hadn't been stealthy at all.

"You think someone heard us?" Leeta asked in a whisper.

"Oh, we heard you."

Leeta and Lyco turned to see two large teen dragons pouncing on them. Before they could fight back, Fume and Shakes were pinning her down.

"Why you..." Lyco was about to change into her muscular self but stopped when Leeta talked.

"Wait, we give up!"

Lyco was about to snap at her sister but then noticed she was winking an eye at her.

"Why are you winking an eye at her?" Fume asked Leeta.

"Eh... we're in a cave; lots of dust." Leeta gave the dragon an 'innocent' grin.

"Yes, he hadn't cleaned up in a while..." Shakes said before getting a thoughtful expression. "Uh... Fume, had we ever cleaned up?"

"Yes." Fume growled before sighing. "I don't remember when, but I'm sure we cleaned up at some point."

The wolf twins got a sly grin.

"Okay, you captured us. Guess now you're taking us with your other captives." Leeta said.

"Uh... our other what?" Shakes asked.

"Captive... I think that means 'Prisoner' or something." Fume shrugged.

"Ah. I thought it was the medicine you take when you can't go the bathroom." Shakes commented.

"No, Moron, that's a 'laxative'..." Fume then got a thoughtful expression as well. "We have a bathroom?"

Now the wolf twins were getting an 'Ew' expression.

"Cut that; take us with your other prisoner!" Lyco groaned.

"We have no other prisoner. You two are our first ones." Shakes said before shrugging again. "Ever."

"Yeah, usually, when we get another creature, we eat it, break it, or kick it away." Fume informed.

Leeta and Lyco looked at each other; this confirmed that these dragons didn't have Nicole.

"Okay. Guess we're leaving now."

"Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute." Fume frowned at Lyco. "You might be our first prisoners, but even 'I' know you don't let a prisoner go when she asks for it."

"And what if we ask like this?" Leeta grinned and got her best 'cute face' while smiling at Shakes. "Please, please, please, please, let us go, with a cherry on top?"

Shakes blushed at this and instantly moved aside, and even helped Leeta stand up.

"Shakes!" Fume almost roared at his partner.

"Hey, she said 'please'... and she even offered me a cheery!" Shakes defended himself.

"Your friend is right." Lyco said to Fume before frowning at him. "Well, what are you waiting for? You're not being as nice as your friend?"

"Uh... eh... yeah, right." Fume moved aside and helped Lyco stand up too.

"Much better. Okay, we're leaving now. See you guys later." Leeta said while she and Lyco started walking away.

"You really are seeing us again later?" Shakes said, a bit too eagerly.

"Eh, well..."

"Aw, yes, yes, Leeta, please, you said it yourself." Lyco said to her twin.

"Lyco, that was just me being polite..." Leeta stopped when realizing this would probably make the dragons angry. "I mean... yes, sure, we can return later. It's not as if we were leaving Equestria tomorrow."

Shakes and Leeta high-fived and said 'Yes', very happy.

"Aw, it's so easy to make them happy." Lyco smiled at the scene.

"Heh, tell me about it." Fume rolled his eyes yet smiled.

Outside, Sonic and Rainbow had finally finished exploring their part of the caves, and joined Knuckles and Courage.

"We didn't find Nicole or the dragon that caught her." The blue hedgehog whispered at his friends. "How about you guys?"

"We found a few teen dragons..." A very smirking Courage was interrupted by Knuckles, as the smirking red echidna showed his friends a dragon tooth.

"Too bad for them." He fist-bumped with Courage.

"Yep. Still, we didn't find Nicole either. And those dragons didn't know a thing." Courage added.

"Same with us." Everyone turned when hearing Daemon, the large winged canine returning with Warrior; Applejack and Tomboy returned a few moments later, with similar results.

"Guess now we have to wait for Leeta and Lyco." Tomboy said before rolling her eyes. "Joy."

"Tomboy is right. Those two should be here by now." Rainbow said, frowning. The group decided to go get them personally, in case they were in troubles.

Inside the cave, Leeta and Lyco were chatting with their wanna-be jailers; luckily, the dragons had a few fruits so they had something edible for the wolves to enjoy while they all talked; not surprisingly, Fume and Shakes were having mini-emeralds as snacks.

"So, none of your friends had gone out tonight?" Lyco asked Fume.

"Well, after that Spike guy beat us up, we were all a bit too much sore to even move." Fume shrugged. "I think the only of us who still had enough strength to move after that was Garble."

"Yeah, he's very tough." Shakes nodded while eating.

"He's pretty much our gang's leader." Fume informed the wolves. "If anyone got out tonight, it had to be Garble."

"Does he have anything against Spike?" Lyco asked.

"Oh, yeah. We all are kinda angry with the little one, but Garble is the most... uh... well, the word that means he gets angry the easiest." Fume groaned, in one of the rare times he hated not being a cultured being.

"Ah, he's short-tempered." Lyco pointed out.

"Yeah, that's the word!" Fume grinned. "Wow, you're smart."

"Heh, if you think that, its because you don't know our friends." Lyco smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, many of them are geniuses." Leeta added; then, she noticed Shakes' confused expression. "It means each one is a genius, and there's more than one."

"Oooooh... so that's the word to call a group of super smart guys." Shakes chuckled. "We always call them 'nerds'."

"Us too, but 'geniuses' is much more positive." Leeta giggled. "Heh, I like how you chuckle."

"Aw, I like how you... do the little laughing thing." Shakes blushed. "Your nose moves... funny when you laugh."

"Heh, you think so?" Leeta grinned and then stretched her nose until it was rubbing against Shakes, the dragon blushing at this.

"Whoa... how did you do that?" Fume asked, very surprised. "Are you made of rubber?"

"Not just her." Lyco grinned and pointed at her own nose while nodding at Fume. The dragon, after a moment of hesitation, grabbed her nose in a gentle yet firm way, and pulled, stretching it considerably.

"This is great... it's some power of your kind?" Fume asked. "You know, something you talking wolves can do, just like we, the dragons, breath fire and eat jewels."

"Well, not EVERYONE of our kind can do this. Many of our friends have powers like ours, but only because we all got them from similar sources." Leeta explained while her nose and Lyco retracted to normal size.

"In other words, we weren't born with the powers; we got them by using a special machine that gave us this ability." Lyco continued, used by now to use simple terms to explain advanced technology to her pony friends, and luckily it seemed the dragons understood it too. "We can stretch and morph... like this."

Lyco then changed her face to resemble an unicorn, including the horn.

"Whoa... can you change into a dragon too?" Shakes asked, very excited.

"Yes, and not just our faces." Leeta added, and then she and her sister started morphing their whole bodies, changing their fur into a scaly look, and getting reptilian features themselves, at first looking a lot like female versions of Spike but then they enlarged their torsos to get a snake-like figure while still conserving their limbs, plus growing wings and making their ears and tails considerably longer. By the time they had finished, they resembled a mix-up of a normal Equestrian dragon and a river snake... or, for someone that knew about Earth's culture, like an Eastern dragon.

"Whoaaaaaa..." Fume and Shakes' jaws fell, and got their widest eyes ever while their ears and tails dropped and their wings turned very stiff. Due to the dragons' usually greedy and competitive nature, the male and female dragons rarely interacted except when looking for a mate, and now Lyco and Leeta had morphed themselves into the most gorgeous creatures the two males had ever seen... not that they considered the twins ugly in their normal wolf form, of course.

"Heh, you guys approve?" Lyco smiled while flapping her wings, actually flying up a bit; this impressed the dragons even more, as it showed the wolves didn't just get wings but also that they were functional ones.

"Am... am... am... What's the word when something amazes you?" Fume asked while looking at both females, but mostly at Leeta.

"Amazing." Leeta smiled.

"Yeah. You both are." Both dragons chorused without even realizing.

"Aw, you guys are cute." Lyco smiled but then got a slightly concerned face. "Oh... but we have to leave now, don't we, Leeta?"

"Oh... yeah, you're right." Leeta sighed while she and her sister started morphing back to normal.

"Why?" The male dragons whined.

"Our friends are waiting for us. And we still have to find our lost friend." Leeta replied.

"Eh... why don't you let us come with you?" Fume asked, very eager. "After all, Shakes and I know how Garble smells..."

"Not that we enjoy it." Shakes rolled his eyes.

"... and we can help you track him. Besides, who better to find a dragon than another dragon?"

Leeta and Lyco thought about this for a moment, and then nodded at the dragons, smiling at them; Fume and Shakes high-fived and soon the foursome started flying out of the cave after Leeta and Lyco used their powers to change back into their own dragon forms.

Meanwhile, back at Everfree, Garble and Nicole were already very close to Ponyville. The red dragon sighed, a bit more sadly than he expected.

"Why so sad?" Nicole asked him, a bit surprised. "I thought we were having a good time together... as good as a former kidnapped can have with her former kidnapper, I mean."

"Yeah, I know... but I just thought about something... what will happen when your friends see me? The ponies will not be very happy, and I doubt your friends will throw me a party either." Garble admitted, a bit worried.

"Don't worry. You and I are together..." Nicole paused and blushed. "Walking together, I mean, so... they won't attack you. I promise you'll be fine..."

"I GOT HIM!"

**WHAM!**

"... starting now." Nicole ended, a bit too quickly, while moving aside. Amy had just attacked Garble, hitting him square in the chest in her ball form. The impact sent him down, and Garble, out of instinct, tried to escape by flying, but his tail got lassoed by Lobo (who obviously had been learning a few things from Applejack), and before he could resist, the large wolf, Big Macintosh, and a muscular Heart pulled him down in a very harsh way.

"Don't let him escape!" Rarity joined shortly, the white unicorn already recognizing Garble, and giving him a powerful roundhouse kick the moment he touched the ground. The rest of the search party was about to attack Garble as well but Nicole jumped over him, morphing into a protective dome.

"Everyone stop!" Nicole yelled. Everyone stopped moving... except Pinkie Pie, who still charged at the dome and lifted it to aim at Garble with her party cannon. "Pinkie! I told everyone to stop!"

"What? You didn't say 'Simon says'." Pinkie shrugged.

"I'm not playing games here Pinkie..."

"Good, because you'd be doing it wrong." Pinkie interrupted Nicole but then looked at Garble and got a little smile before turning at the others. "Hey, he's not dangerous!"

"How can you say that?" Wisedom asked the pink pony. "He's a kidnapper."

"I didn't say he wasn't a criminal, just that he's not dangerous. Focus." Pinkie grinned and poked Wisedom's forehead; before the clone could say another thing, Pinkie added, "And I know he's not dangerous because my Pinkie Sense isn't going crazy. And unless Nicole just got a case of Stokholm Syndrome, I think she wouldn't defend an evil guy."

The rest of the group, once getting over the shock of Pinkie Pie knowing about the Stokholm Syndrome, realized she had a point.

"He's not evil, this whole situation was a big misunderstanding." Nicole said while morphing back to normal. "He wasn't trying to kidnap me; he was looking for Spike."

"Not exactly helping his case, you know?" Twilight frowned while Rarity and Sally looked now even more eager to pummel Garble. Actually, the purple unicorn was having some problems to stop herself from using some very painful spells on the red dragon; spells that would turn him into a red, black, blue and bruised dragon.

"What would you want with Spike, other than the fact that you're still holding a grudge for turning his back on your gang of brutes and stopping you from crushing that innocent phoenix's egg? " Rarity frowned at Garble. "And I think you remember what I said I'd do if you even dared to touch him."

Garble was now gulping again; he now recognized Rarity, and also Twilight, from the first time the ponies and Spike made fools out of him and his friends. And now she had actually kicked him, Garble had no doubt this unicorn would really tear him apart to protect Spike, as she promised she'd do the first time. The fact she was backed up by several other creatures that seemed more than capable of beating him up even without assistance only made Garble more nervous.

"Look... Garble just had another encounter with Spike, very recently, and let's just say Spike was victorious." Nicole started explaining. "In a very one-sided, curb-stompíng, overwhelming, humiliating way."

"Way to protect me while crushing my self-esteem, Nicole." Garble sighed yet nodded.

"Sorry." Nicole gave him an apologetic smile.

"Wait Spike was at the Dragon's Roost, what was he doing there?" Twilight arched an eyebrow. She knew Spike wasn't exactly eager to return there.

"I can explain it to you if you'll allow me." Garble sighed.

"Ooooh...a story!" Pinkie smiled, disappeared from scene, and returned with a coach and a bag of popcorn; she got herself comfortable and started eating. "Okay, you can start."

"Where did she..." Garble was interrupted by everyone but Pinkie chorusing...

"**Don't ask, we never understood her and we never will."**

"Nice chorus. You guys had been rehearsing?" Pinkie smiled while Garble sighed and started telling what happened with Spike at the Roost.

Meanwhile, the Elastic Twins and the dragons finally exited the cave; Leeta and Lyco were still in dragon form since, they thought, it would be safer for them in case an adult dragon spotted them, especially now they were practically in the open instead of being stealthy. Once they were the other side of the Roost, the females changed back to normal, just in time for Daemon to spot them; the flying hero had been keeping an eye on the whole area from the sky, while the rest of his companions looked for the twins more directly.

"Leeta, Lyco, we were concerned about you two." Daemon then looked at Fume and Shakes, the two dragons being more than impressed at his looks. "And you two gentlemen would be..."

"Gentlemen?" Fume arched an eyebrow.

"I think he's confusing us with other dragons." Shakes said to his friend.

"They're our new friends, Fume and Shakes. And they are coming with us back to Ponyville." Leeta informed.

"What do you mean 'coming back with us', uh?"

The dragons turned to see a very upset Rainbow Dash frowning at them. The dragons then recognized her as one of Spike's friends, and got obviously worried, especially when the rest of the ponies and Mobians arrived.

"Wait, guys, nopony... and no Mobian... hurt them!" Lyco stood in front of the dragons. "They're friendly."

"Yeah, well, Ah think Pee Wee's family would disagree with that." Applejack frowned.

"Heheheh... she said 'pee'." Fume chuckled, but silenced himself when noticing the others weren't that happy.

"Look, Fume and Shakes aren't bad dragons." Leeta joined her sister, standing in front of the dragons to protect them. "They're just... ignorant."

"Yeah, well, I'm not an egghead nerd like Twilight either, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna use that excuse to attack others." Rainbow folded her arms.

"Hehehehe... she said 'egghead'." Now Shakes was the one chuckling... and silencing himself when the others frowned at him.

"They even have some info on Spike and the dragon that caught Nicole." Lyco added. This actually made the others to cool down a bit.

"Well, then they'd better start talking, or I'm gonna start collecting more dragon teeth." Knuckles growled.

"You collect that? Heh, nice, I collect lint!" Shakes grinned. "And how do you get teeth for your collection?"

Knuckles shoved his fists in front of the dragon. Shakes needed a few seconds to realize what this meant, but even an illiterate dragon wasn't that dumb, and when it clicked in his head, Shakes gulped and nodded.

"I think we should have this conversation somewhere else. Even if the adult dragons don't seem to care that much about their youngsters, I'm sure they don't like to see other species bullying their kind." Daemon suggested. The others, including Knuckles, Tomboy, Rainbow, Courage and Warrior, agreed on this.

"Okay, let's go. And you two start talkin' while we return to Ponyville." Applejack said to the dragons, Shake and Fume just nodding and staying close to Lyco and Leeta. As the group started leaving, Sonic grinned a bit and said...

"Butt."

"Heheheh... he said 'butt'." Shakes and Fume chuckled at this. The rest of the group frowned at Sonic.

"Just testing a theory." Sonic shrugged and then grinned. "And I was right; these two don't use their head that much."

"Hey, I resent that." Fume frowned.

"And I... wish I knew what 'resent' meant." Shakes groaned while Fume face palmed, and then the two dragons started telling what they had already said to Leeta and Lyco.

Back at The Everfree Forest, Garble was finishing his story as well. By now, the Mobians and ponies were a bit more comfortable with him, and they were all surprised that Spike could be this tough even without morphing into his adult, monstrous self.

"Spike's training has been more than successful." Sally commented.

"If that means he can kick my tail without even trying, yes, you're right." Garble nodded.

"What intrigues me is what Garble says about this stone." Twilight thought out loud. "It must be some sort of amulet, or a very special magical rock, like the Crystal Heart, but this one works with physical power instead of sentiments."

"Actually, he had a scroll... and I think it described the rock. I couldn't read what it said, but I could make out these letters." Garble said, glad to show he wasn't a complete moron even if he lacked a formal education.

Garble then wrote some letters into the ground, I.N.Y. S.T.S.. The others looked at the symbols and Pinkie Pie then jumped in front of them.

"Oh, I got it!" Pinkie started writing. "I Need Your Salty Treats, Sally. Now, if we can find out who this 'Sally' is..."

"Pinkie, I doubt that's what the symbols mean." Twilight groaned.

"Ah... well, if those aren't the first letters of a word each, but bits of a large sentence, then... mmm... Infinity Stones!" Pinkie grinned while writing.

Twilight gasped at this. She had already read a bit about those stones.

"Pinkie... I don't know if I should call you 'crazy', or a 'genius'." Twilight then rubbed her chin. "Then again, that's not new."

"Heh, I know." Pinkie smiled while looking back at the symbols Garble drew. "Mmm... are you sure these aren't the first letters of a larger sentence? It can also mean I Need Yummy Sugar Taffy, Seriously."

"It's official, she's a Crazy Genius." Fiona arched an eyebrow yet smiled.

"So, Twilight, you said you know about the Infinity Stones or whatever." Sally got in front of Twilight, the purple unicorn nodding at this.

"Yes... there's very little information about them. In fact, it seems that when Princess Luna first became Nightmare Moon, she destroyed a good portion of Canterlot's library, along with other parts of the castle, before Princess Celestia could stop her... and the information about the Infinity Stones was among the destroyed books. Only an experienced alicorn, or some other creature that had lived long enough, might know about the stones' full capacity... especially if he or she has a scroll describing them, as Garble said."

"Wait, you mean the purple shorty had been training with some guy or gal that's old enough to be an adult dragon's grandpa?" Garble groaned. "No wonder he kicked our tails so easily."

"From what I remember, those stones can give you infinite control about some aspect of reality; in this case, and according to your description, the stone Spike got is the Power one." Twilight noticed Garble's confused look but luckily Tails 'translated' her.

"She means that whoever gets any of these stones can do anything he or she wants... as long as it is in the stone's capacities. If Spike got the Power Stone, for example, right now he is the strongest being in all Equestria, or probably in this universe."

All the non-nerds in the group gasped at this.

"He-Spike, the most powerful dragon in the universe... HE HAS THE POWER!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Randomness aside, you are probably right, Pinkie... but..." Twilight thought a bit. "All this power can corrupt whoever is using it... so... Spike probably needs help to keep himself from going crazy with all that energy..."

"Twilight, I think whoever is helping Spike gather these stones is doing it precisely because he knows our friend can handle that power." Rarity interrupted Twilight. "Remember that Spike, as a dragon, is greedy by nature..."

"Oh, yeah, we are." Garble grinned.

"... and we all know what happened the last time Spike lost control of his greed." Rarity was then interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

"SPIKE-ZILLA!"

"Ehem! Anyway, he eventually got to control his greed and returned to normal by himself... even if I had to help him a bit." Rarity rolled her eyes yet smiled before getting serious again. "My point is, Spike can control his natural instincts and impulses to keep himself from becoming a destructive super monster, and he does it every single day. So, if he gets access to these stones..."

"Spike will be able to use them without getting corrupted because he already is using his self-control on a regular basis." Sally concluded.

"Still, we probably should go find Spike and see how he's doing." Fiona suggested. "Also, we must find the group that went to the Roost and tell them what we know."

"Good idea." Twilight nodded. "Mmm... but the Roost is very far from here... maybe I can teleport a small group of us, to get closer, and then we arrive there by hoof/paw."

Everyone agreed on this. Twilight decided to go to the Roost with Garble (he REALLY had to go this time, in case they needed his help to calm down the other teen dragons), Nicole, Sally, Fiona, and Lobo; she couldn't take a larger group since a collective teleportation would be hard enough even with a small one.

"Alright, everypony, stay close to me while I use my spell." Twilight said to her 5 companions as she started concentrating.

"This is the first time I travel this way." Garble admitted.

"It tickles. You'll get to like it." Rarity, a bit apart from the 'teleporters', said to the dragon.

A moment later, the group disappeared in a flash of light.

A few minutes later, after repeating the teleportation spell 10 times, Twilight was exhausted. This trick had helped her group cover most of the distance to the Roost in little time, but, as she said, it wasn't an easy spell.

"I'll... need... some rest..." Twilight panted yet still tried to keep walking. "Once... we get there..."

"Twilight, we know you want to help Spike; we all do. But you're not helping him if you drain yourself." Sally said to the unicorn before morphing into her muscular form, and then carried Twilight, pretty much giving her a... pony-back ride.

"Nnnnngh... can someone carry me too..." Garble groaned before covering his mouth to try covering a large burping. "Ugh... the first two tele-whatever were fun... but after the third one... nnnngh... it made a mess with my stomach."

'I thought you'd manage that better than us; you dragons eat jewels!" Fiona exclaimed.

"Yes, that means you dragons have very strong stomachs." Lobo added.

"I know... but we're not used to... travel this way." Garble now needed Nicole's help to walk, since he needed to lean a bit on her to keep up his balance.

"Next time, try the train." Nicole chuckled a bit while helping Garble. "Sorry; when Pinkie Pie isn't around, someone must keep the jokes running. And Sonic isn't here either."

"But I'm here now!"

The others looked at Sonic, who was now standing in front of them. Rainbow Dash and Daemon landed next to him a moment later.

"We were on our way back to Ponyville." Rainbow explained before looking at Garble and Nicole. "Hey, great, you found Nicole! But... the dragon is coming as friend, prisoner, or a punching bag for Knuckles?"

"Friend. Yeah, that. Friend. Really." Garble nodded at the newcomers, that looked at the rest of the group; when their friends confirmed Garble's words, they cooled down, and a few moments later, the rest of the Dragon Roost's group joined them.

"Shakes? Fume?" Garble arched an eyebrow when looking at his friends. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We can ask the same thing." Fume replied.

"Look, Ah know we all need to compare notes..." Applejack was interrupted by Shakes.

"Notes? Someone was supposed to be writing this?"

"Figure of speech, Shakes." Garble groaned.

"Ehem. As Ah was saying, we must find a better place to talk. Ah don't wanna be close to the Dragon Roost in case any of the big ones decide we're now a big enough group for a midnight snack."

"Good thinking. Still, we have 4 dragons in this group, so guess they won't attack us." Lyco pointed out.

"Uh... Lyco, there are only 3 dragons with us." Twilight corrected the elastic wolf.

"She's also including the dragon that had been following us since we left the Roost." Tomboy grinned. "We, the wolves in the group, already knew that, but even I wouldn't start a discussion with a dragon with so many large ones around us."

The non-wolves of the group looked at the direction Tomboy was pointing, and, indeed, they could all spot a dragon's tail, the rest of him hidden behind a boulder.

"I think I know that tail. Puff, get out of there; we know it's you!" Garble confirmed this dragon's identity by sniffing the air.

"Heh... hey, Garble." The albino dragon emerged from his hiding place, grinning a bit. "So... these guys aren't enemies?"

"No, they're not." Garble groaned.

"Are you sure? You should have seen what those two did with the rest of the gang." Puff pointed at Knuckles and Warrior, the two brawlers just grinning and shrugging at this.

"They tried to bite, barbecue and beat us, not exactly in that order." Warrior pointed out.

"Hey, you guys invaded our home! And I was following you because I thought you were dragon-napping Fume and Shakes. " Puff argued back. Fiona then approached him with a nice, gentle smile.

"Sorry about that. Our friend Nicole was kidnapped, and they were looking for her. We know you were only defending your territory against trespassers, but you must see things from our point of view."

"Uh... eh... well..." Puff blushed a bit; like Fume and Shakes, he wasn't used to any female from any species to be this nice and polite with him. "I'd... agree with you... but I still have a very important question for you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"What's a 'trespasser'?" Puff smiled dumbly.

"You guys need a school around here." Rainbow whispered at Garble.

"I guess you're right." Garble groaned, hating that, once again, his species' lack of education made them look like fools.

"We'll think about that later. Right now, like Applejack said, we must leave and find a better way for us to discuss our current situation." Twilight proposed. Once everyone agreed with her, they went to find some cover place where they could talk without interruptions.


	7. The Dragon's and the Alicorn's Secret

Chapter 7 - The Dragon's and the Alicorn's Secret

The group had to walk for a while before finding a cave where they could talk about the information they had learned in the last hours. As Garble said, the adult dragons rarely cared about whatever their offspring did, but they were fiercely protective of their territories and would often attack other species, so they couldn't be in the open for long. Luckily, they found a large enough cave and they all got comfortable there; since Garble was the leader of his dragon gang, and the one who knew the most about what Spike was doing (even if not knowing too much, it was still more than the ponies or Mobians could know), he joined the largest group, the ones discussing Spike's actions, while Puff, Fume and Shakes, not knowing or caring that much, stood apart, just with Lyco, Leeta, and Fiona (who was starting to take a liking for the dragons, especially Puff) for company while the others talked.

"Well, now we know what Spike is doing; he and his mentor are collecting the Infinity Stones." Sally commented.

"Yes, but... why? I mean, the Infinity Stones are very powerful, ancient magical gemstones, and you don't gather them just for fun." Twilight pointed out. "And besides, why couldn't Spike just contact us again? It has been almost 10 days since he left, and with his abilities, he can send a letter almost at any point."

"Maybe he and this alicorn buddy of his are just too busy. Ah mean, besides getting the stones, they have been training." Applejack said while looking at Garble. "Yah said that Spike defeated yall even before getting the Power Stone, right?"

"Yeah, he did, and did it almost without breaking a sweat. It was like... fighting an adult dragon." Garble admitted. " And he even had this weird stick that turned into weapons to hit us... and now that I think about it, he wasn't beating me up, it was the coolest fighting I had ever seen, and we dragons get into fights all the time."

"Maybe Spike's trainer is teaching him how to use weaponry to make up for his short size." Lobo commented. "No offense to you ponies, but your lack of hands make it hard for you to use some weapons that us Mobians can use with some training."

"Indeed. I use my magic to do very delicate maneuvers and tasks, but I often needed Spike's help to do delicate, precision stuff in a shorter time. The two of us, working together, could get the work done in less than half the time it would take me on my own." Rarity added. "His hands are a very useful body feature."

Twilight nodded in agreement, more than used to seeing Spike doing complex or tiring chores without using magic. She could see how he would surely master any weapon with some training.

"Still, training or not, I'm still worried about Spike. Also, we need to learn a bit more about the Infinity Stones, and see if there's anything dangerous about using them." Twilight got the nodding agreement of those around her.

"Sonic and I can take you to Canterlot in no time." Rainbow offered.

"Yes, I know, with your speed, I'd be there in a very short time, but I think we all should go there. Even if I'm Princess Celestia's pupil, and she would give me the information willingly if I go alone, we should all go to prove our point and show this is quite an emergency."

While the group continued discussing this, Fiona and the elastic twins played with the dragons, showing them their shape-shifting and stretching abilities. For starters, they inflated themselves like balloons and the dragons, liking this change, started playing with them as if the females were balls or balloons, tossing and bouncing them against the cave's walls.

"Heh, you girls are very funny." Puff commented while still playing with Fiona's balloonish body.

"And this isn't our only trick." Fiona grinned and then, when Puff bounced her again, Fiona morphed in mid-air; a few moments later, she landed on her feet, impressing Puff not just with her agility but with her magnificent muscular body. Fume and Shakes, who were still playing with Leeta and Lyco, stopped for a moment to stare at her as well.

"Whoa, that's a quick workout." Fume then looked back at the elastic twins. "You can do that too?"

"Yep, it's a basic ability when you have our powers." Leeta replied, and then she and Lyco did the same thing Fiona did; Shakes and Fume looked at them completely awestruck, not just because of their change, but because, due to their outfits' design, the twins' abdomens were bare, and therefore their muscular definition much more evident than Fiona's.

"**HOOOOOWL!"** The three dragons chorused at the view of the three elastic canine gals; Fiona and the twins grinned and couldn't help to blush a bit.

"Great, you guys are already learning our language." Lobo grinned at the dragons, as the large wolf, like everyone at the cave, couldn't help but notice this transformation.

"Well, guess this is all we can do for now." Twilight said. "Now, we better return to Ponyville and get train tickets so we can go to Canterlot as soon as possible."

"You can save some money on my ticket, Twilight. I'll just jog alongside the train the whole time." Sonic grinned.

"Uh... about that..." Garble now looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, Garble, we have enough money to pay for your ticket; also for your friends'." Nicole assured him.

"Good, because we dragons have no pony cash, and we didn't bring any jewels with us." Garble sighed. "Still, maybe we should just fly behind the train or something. I don't think the ponies have seats our size."

"Ah, don't worry about that. We just need to get yall some large seats in the back of the carts; mah brother is even bigger than yah, and he can travel quite fine." Applejack told him. "And we ponies are used to travel with other species, so you dragons will not get discriminated."

"If 'discriminated' means 'treated like dirt because we're not ponies', and you really mean it..." Garble arched an eyebrow at the blonde pony.

"Hey, Garble, let me give you a quick lesson here; I might lie once in awhile if I'm setting up a prank; some friends of ours can lie to set up a strategy or a surprise party: but never, EVER, doubt Applejack's word." Rainbow said to Garble, in a friendly yet still firm tone. Applejack smiled a bit at the pegasus' support, and apparently this was enough for Garble too.

"That's nice and all, but what about Vex and Clud? We left them back at the Roost." Puff reminded the other dragons. "And they didn't look so well when I left them."

"Maybe we were a bit too rough with them." Knuckles admitted.

"Why don't we... I don't know... send them a message and tell them to join us half-way to Canterlot?" Warrior suggested.

"The idea is good, aside the little problem of Vex and Clud not knowing how to read at all." Garble groaned. "If we send them a message, they'd probably just eat it, or worse, think it's an insulting letter."

"Not if I deliver the message." Sonic grinned. "Just tell me where to find these two guys, and I'll tell them personally; and then, I'll run out of the Roost before any of the large dragons can get me."

Everyone agreed on this, and after Garble gave Sonic a general description of Vex and Clud, and Warrior and Knuckles told him where they left the unconscious dragons, the blue hedgehog dashed back to the Roost. He returned about 10 minutes later.

"Sonic, what happened? Ten minutes, for you, is like a whole hour for anyone else." Sally pointed out when Sonic returned.

"I found the dragons in no time... but it took me a few minutes to convince them that Garble sent me, and then I had to tell them where to find us." Sonic groaned. "They're gonna wait for us at the train station that's halfway to Canterlot. I also told them to bring a few jewels so they can pay for their ticket."

"Knowing them, they'll eat the jewels before we arrive." Garble rolled his eyes while the other dragons nodded in agreement.

A while later, they were all back to Ponyville. Since this 'rescue mission' took most of the night, it had already been morning when they arrived. Twilight and Rainbow Dash went to the station to buy the tickets while most of the Mobians plus Pinkie Pie played tour guides for the dragons, minus Tails, who joined Rarity in the white unicorn's efforts to calm down Fluttershy, the poor pegasus almost panicking when seeing so many teen dragons at once. The Mobian females stayed at Twilight's place, and Maria and Lupe re-formed themselves by calling back all their clones.

"I still can't believe you became friends with your kidnapper." Amy grinned at Nicole.

"Well, the usual options when you are kidnapped are trying to escape or wait for somebody to rescue you; I decided to come up with a third option and befriend him, even if, admittedly, I had to show him I was no defenseless victim so he could respect me as an equal." Nicole explained. "Once we could talk a bit, and he stopped being a mindless brute, Garble actually proved being a decent enough guy."

"Heh. Somebody has a crush." Maria said in a singing tone. Nicole blushed a bit while Leeta and Lyco gulped and grinned nervously.

"No, no, we don't, I mean, Fume and Shakes are nice dragons but..." The twins stopped talking when noticing everyone was staring at them.

"Maria said no names." Fiona smirked a bit. "Heh, guess dragons are some sort of 'ladies magnet' around here, uh?"

"Indeed: we also noticed you were more than friendly with Puff." Nicole pointed out, causing Fiona to blush slightly.

"Well, what do you know?" Lupe arched an eyebrow. "It seems the only ones in this group that are both single and not feeling attracted to a dragon are Sally and Amy."

Amy chuckled a bit, nodding, while Sally got very silent before sighing and shaking her head.

"No, Lupe: it would only be Amy."

Everyone around Sally, including Pee Wee and Owlicious (the two birds present at the library almost all the time), gave her a silent, surprised stare.

"I think I kinda... like... a dragon..."

"Who."

"Spike. And thanks for making the question, Owlicious." Sally groaned a bit.

"You like Spike?" Amy was surprised but then smiled a bit. "Well... he is a cute little guy."

"Yes, and very smart, and polite, and funny..." Lyco added.

"And with multiple talents." Nicole finished. "And he has been a very helpful and caring friend since we've arrived."

"He's also sweet and gentle." Sally sighed. "And I kinda... learned how to appreciate a dragon's physical appearance... and I can tell, I find him more than just 'cute'. I think he's handsome."

"Awwwwww." Everyone chorused.

"You have to talk with Twilight about this." Lupe told Sally. "After all, she's pretty much Spike's older sister and closest relative."

"You think I should? I mean, Spike isn't around at this time... and Twilight is already too worried about him. I wouldn't want to talk with her about this until Spike is back with us. Besides..." Sally sighed sadly. "We might like this place... in fact, I love it... but the point is, we're still temporary visitors, and we'll leave at some point. Once we find Spike, I don't wanna tell him until I'm ready to do it, and come up with some sort of way to... have a relationship with someone who will be literally at a world of distance."

The others sighed at this, understanding her position, and Nicole and the twins felt a bit sad since this situation probably applied to them as well; right now, they were already feeling a big attraction for Garble and his friends, and if they actually fell in love, it wouldn't be easy to leave Equestria without breaking a lot of hearts. Fiona herself pondered about this, as she was starting to like Puff, and if things worked the same as with Nicole and the twins, she would soon fall for him as well.

Meanwhile, Spike and Adam arrived at the next location; they took the long route here since Spike needed some time to practice with the two stones he already had, and it was important that he was at least skillful enough to show his control to the ones holding the next stones.

"Captain Armor, an alicorn is arriving." One of Canterlot's guards called his superior, Shining Armor, who immediately went to the closest watchtower. There were no scheduled visits from any high rank noble, so any alicorn coming would only do it due to an emergency.

"You're right... and it's not a mare." Shining Armor arched an eyebrow; most of the alicorns were females, and he could only remember an alicorn colt at the moment. "This one must be..."

"Adam, you could have told me that the next stones were here in Canterlot." Spike frowned a bit. "I could have sent a message to Princess Celestia to tell her we're coming."

"I think I forgot; besides, you are holding the map with the stones' locations. You should have noticed that before." Adam grinned a bit when Spike facepalmed. "Relax; I know they'll like receiving us. It has been a while since I visited."

"Guess you're right." Spike sighed while Adam landed and they were immediately approached by the palace's guards; they all looked very respectful of Adam, and a few wide-opened their eyes in surprise when realizing Spike was with him.

"Greetings, Lord Warcolt." Shining Armor approached and saluted him, and after Adam saluted back, the military unicorn finally noticed Spike. "Spike? I didn't know you and Twilight would be coming."

"Neither did I." Spike shrugged and smiled. "Hi to you too, Shining."

"Oh, sorry, Spike. You know me, when I have to do my job..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, formalities before commodities." Spike grinned; Shining and some of the other guards couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Your sense of humor is famous around here, I see." Adam smirked at Spike.

"Well, Lord Warcolt, as you probably know by now, Spike is a personal protegee of Princess Celestia, and he grew up under my little sister's care, so he's basically a little brother to my family, and a well known character here at the palace." Shining explained. "Anyway, your visit is a big surprise. I guess you came to attend some important matter, since you would have announced a social, friendly visit with some anticipation."

"Exactly, Captain; not an immediate emergency, I can assure you." Adam's words relaxed the guards a bit. "It's mostly to get some help at the training of my own protegee."

"You mean..." Shining gave Spike a surprised look.

"In the words of Big Macintosh... E-Yep." Spike nodded. "Just like Princess Celestia and Twilight trained me to be an educated, more-civilized-than-normal dragon, Adam here is training me to be a defender of Equestria... pretty much like you, or Twilight and the girls."

"Interesting... and a very good choice, Lord Warcolt." Shining was now looking back at the alicorn. "Being a dragon, Spike has a potentially extreme longevity, and his physical abilities, as he grows up, will be far superior to most of Equestria's creatures. Plus, I can assure you he's a very trustworthy, loyal little fellow."

"I'm already aware of those qualities, Captain, yet I appreciate your point of view." Adam nodded. "However, even if, as you pointed, Spike will develop impressive capacities as he grows up, we're taking a little... shortcut... so he can be not just as powerful as a full grown dragon, but even more, and in much shorter time."

"How come?"

"We can discuss this inside the palace. Besides, I would like to see the Princesses; it has been a while." Adam said with full honesty. Shining nodded at him and a moment later he personally escorted Adam and Spike inside the palace. After a few moments, a princess arrived, but not Luna or Celestia, but someone much younger.

"Shining, a guard told me an alicorn was coming and..." Cadence smiled when seeing Adam. "Uncle!"

"Cadance!" Adam beamed as well and soon he and the young princess were caressing each other's head. "Just look at you; I've seen mares that get even prettier when they get married, and it seems that's your case."

"Uncle, you and your compliments." Cadence chuckled a bit. "But yes, I love Shining and we're very happy together."

"Hey, Cadence, I know I'm not the tallest guy around, but how come nobody sees me at first glance when Adam is around?" Spike smirked at the princess, and a moment later he was levitated by her magic, as Cadence moved him closer to her and give the little dragon a little kiss on his forehead that made him blush a bit. "Heh... much better."

"Oh, you know I'd never ignore you, Spike. We're practically in-laws." Cadence chuckled a bit. "Twilight came with you, or it's one of your business trips?"

Cadence, as well as practically everyone at the palace, knew that Spike sometimes made quick travels to Canterlot on his own, at times to assist at some important matters, and other times just to deliver some packages or important reports that were just too big or delicate to send via magical fire.

"Training trip." Spike explained.

"Your uncle accepted Spike as his pupil; this little guy is gonna become the next one-dragon-army." Shining informed Cadence. "He's already progressing, I mean, I just noticed Spike is considerably more muscular than last time he came."

Of course, the 'noticeable' part only applied to a well trained soldier like Shining, while most ponies wouldn't realize Spike had really gained some muscle mass, and the way he moved proved his legs were stronger, his reflexes sharper, and he was generally more alert of everything around him even when relaxed.

"And I'm gonna need your Aunts' authorization to provide him with the necessary items." Adam explained. "I might be in charge of training Spike, and I'm the expert when it comes to these items in particular, but due to their potential and applications, I need Celestia and Luna's approval to give Spike the rest of them."

Spike then took out his weapon, and showed it to Shining Armor and Cadence; while the unicorn was impressed by the weapon's design, Cadence gasped a bit when recognizing the Power and Soul Stones.

"Uncle... you know how dangerous these stones are..."

"Cadence, even Love Magic can be dangerous when used wrongly." Adam talked in a relaxed yet still kinda firm way. "The same can be said about almost everything; after all, aren't dragons supposed to be among Equestria's most dangerous, rude, anti-social creatures? And we all know that a proper education, attention and the dragon's own personality and willingness to learn can produce the exact opposite. That's why I'm so sure Spike can handle this responsibility much better than most ponies."

"Uh... care to elaborate?" Shining arched an eyebrow. He was well educated, and one of Equestria's finest soldiers, but he definitely was no Twilight Sparkle and his knowledge of magical artifacts, items and whatever was limited to the little bits he could learn from casual conversations at the palace and some stuff Cadence, Twilight and other unicorns told him at times.

"My niece and Spike will inform you." Adam said before starting to leave the room. "In the meantime, I'll go tell Celestia and Luna; you three have a lot of catching up to do, and I wouldn't mind spending a while with my cousins as a family before we attend this business as royalty."

The matrimony and Spike nodded at Adam, and the moment he left the room, Cadence started telling her husband about the stones while Spike informed them both about his quest to get them all. A while later, Adam returned with Princesses Celestia and Luna; Spike, as usual, greeted them with a light bow, but his wasn't as ceremonious or submissive as most ponies would do with Equestria's rulers, since he obviously shared a very familiar bond with Celestia from his time living in Canterlot and Celestia being the closest he had to family besides Twilight herself.

"Nice to see you again, Spike. I see Adam wasn't exaggerating; you really had become an impressive young male." Celestia smiled kindly at him.

"More than impressive, actually, if you are now destined to become the bearer of the Infinity Stones." Luna added while giving Spike a closer look.

"I just hope I'm up for the task, Your Nocturnal Highness." Spike bowed at her, this time in much more noticeable way. Since the dragon wasn't nearly as close to Luna as he was with Celestia, and considering Luna's past actions and reputation, he was considerably more respectful and formal when addressing her.

"You still have to keep in mind, at all times, that power can corrupt those who aren't ready for the responsibility. I speak from experience, as everypony in this room knows." Luna gave Spike a stern yet apologetic glance. "If you can't handle the power of the Infinity Stones, you know we'd need to retrieve them from you, by force if necessary. And between us... being stuck in the moon for a thousand years is a fate I wouldn't wish to my worst enemy, even less to you."

As harsh as Luna's words sounded, Spike knew why she was lecturing him this way. To this day, ponies still feared Nightmare Moon, and even if they, slowly yet surely, were accepting Princess Luna as a respectable authority figure, the memories of her past actions and the punishment her own sister applied on her weren't likely to be forgotten. If Spike ever lost control of the Infinity Stones, he would need to be stopped as well, and considering the incredible amount of power he'd be bearing, it would be necessary to use very extreme measures, as painful as that would be for all his friends, especially considering they'd be the ones stopping him.

"Princess Luna, if I ever lose control of the Stones' powers, and I become a threat to Equestria and my friends... I know you don't need me to give you permission, but , if the worst comes to happen, I fully agree on you and Princess Celestia using all your power to stop me. I'd rather end as Discord's neighbor, posing as a statue for eternity, than hurting anypony with corrupted power."

Luna's stance changed immediately, becoming more relaxed and even smiling slightly at him. Then, she turned at Celestia and Adam, the three alicorns nodding at each other.

"That's what we wanted to hear, Spike. Adam already told us he considers you're more than capable of handling this responsibility, and I know you since you were hatched, and I agree with him. Luna is the one of us that has the least experience with you at a personal level, and she had to make sure and test your resolve on her own. As you can understand, a magical object as powerful as the Infinity Stones is a big responsibility, and you can only get the rest of them if the three of us agree on letting you continue with your quest." Celestia explained Spike while motioning him to follow her to a nearby window. "The next stone you'll need is the Reality Stone; you can find it in that tower."

Spike looked at the place Celestia was pointing at, and recognized it as the very same tower where they kept the Elements of Harmony. He could see why he'd need permission to access it and get the stone; except for the palace itself, and after the Changelings Invasion, the tower became the most well protected building in all of Canterlot, with such powerful defensive spells that, even with the Power and Soul Stones already under his command, Spike would have problems to get past them unless the Princesses deactivated the tower's magical protection, something Luna, Celestia and Adam himself did right at that moment.

Princesses Luna and Celestia nodded at Shining Armor, who saluted them before shooting a magical beam from his horn and hitting the tower with it. A magical shield covering the tower, that had been invisible until that moment, disappeared almost instantly. After that, the alicorns stood in line, one aside the other, and they shot a triple spell beam at the tower, apparently not doing anything, but soon several noises were heard coming from the tower. Finally, Celestia called Cadence, who finished the job by sending some of her own magic to the tower, covering it in a shiny aura that disappeared after a few moments.

"There. We have deactivated all the defensive spells." Celestia then looked back at Spike. "From Shining Armor's barriers, to several minor and not-so-minor magical traps that can only be safely turned off by alicorn magic, and even a few final locks that Cadence helped us implement in the first place. Now you can enter the tower and get the Reality Stone, Spike. Once you enter the tower, use the stones you already possess, and they'll show you the way to the stone."

Spike, smiling, nodded and bowed at the alicorns, and then surprised everypony but Adam by jumping out of the window and landing right in front of the tower, easily covering several hundred feet as if he had jumped out of his bed. Then, Spike saluted at the guards in front of the tower's door, the last line of defense in case the magical protection failed; the guards, who obviously noticed the alicorns and Shining Armor turning off the tower's magic, saluted him back and opened the door for him.

Once inside, Spike walked right ahead, soon finding the security box where Celestia kept the Elements of Harmony; it now had no magical lock protecting it, but the normal yet strong steel locks and chains covering it would still be a problem for any thief. Spike grinned, happy to see the Elements were so well protected, before using his stones to start searching for the Reality one. Spike concentrated for a few moments, and soon he was covered by an aura coming from both stones; then, this aura emitted a light beam that focused on a wall behind the Elements' box.

Spike approached the wall and, remembering the information he had read on the Infinity Stones' scroll, placed both the Power and the Soul Stones on the wall, pressing hard with both hands. A new aura appeared, this one coming right out of the wall, and the Reality Stone emerged from it. The dragon grinned at Princess Celestia's smarts; she had used both her magic and the stone's to hide it, and nopony would be able to get it out, or even find it, without Celestia turning off her own magical defense and the one searching for the stone having already no less than two Infinity Stones.

Spike grabbed the Reality Stone and, as it had happened with the other two, the little rock's energy invaded his body. Spike could feel how his mind expanded, and his imagination got impossibly enhanced, suddenly having visions of endless possible uses for the Reality Stone.

"_Whoa... it's as... if my mind had a mind of its own! I... Sweet Celestia... if this is how Pinkie Pie sees the world, there's no wonder why she's so random all the time! How can somepony focus on THIS reality when his/her mind can see ALL these possibilities and actually has the means to try them?"_

Without Spike noticing, his own body was now changing every few seconds; one moment it was just a simple color change, giving him red and blue scales, and the next one he was an anthropomorphic pony the size of Big Macintosh before changing into a three headed version of himself. Eventually, Spike started gaining control of the stone and the random changing stopped, but not before he had a vision much stronger than the others.

"_What was that last one about? I saw... some shadow... or creature... it looked like a mix-max combo of several animals..." _Spike then gasped and thought out loud. "This stone was tricked! And the one doing it was..."

At the palace, Princess Celestia suddenly felt the very same energy that affected Spike, and she also had the same vision. Being much more experienced with the stones' powers, Celestia's vision was much clearer than Spike's; it showed a powerful, evil spirit messing up with the Reality Stone's powers, to the point activating it would also benefit this spirit. And the only force powerful enough to actually mess with a magical object capable of altering reality was chaos. Pure, wild, evil-oriented chaos.

At a nearby garden, located in the middle of a maze, a large rock statue started moving and cracking. And then, the rocky cover exploded, releasing the large, bizarre creature trapped inside.

"Oh, yes! Somepony finally used the Reality Stone!" Discord laughed loudly. "You didn't see that one coming, huh, Celestia?"

At the same moment, in the train to Canterlot, Pinkie Pie started shaking like crazy... or crazier than usual.

"Whoa. This pony forgot to take a medicine or what?" Garble asked to nopony in particular.

"No, it's her Pinkie Sense. It tells her when something specially bad is about to happen." Rarity explained Garble while Lupe and Twilight tried calming down Pinkie.

"Pinkie, what's wrong?" Twilight, despite not understanding how her 'danger sense' worked, she no longer doubted of its effectiveness.

"A VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY..." Pinkie was stopped by a slight smack on the back of her head, courtesy of Lupe. "Thanks. VERY BAD THING IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN CANTERLOT!"

"Bad? How bad?" Fluttershy gulped.

"Uh... as bad as Discord breaking free and growing the size of a tower." Applejack said, her eyes wide open.

"Whoa... yes, something that bad. How did you know?" Pinkie asked the blonde pony. Applejack then pointed at the train's window, and everyone looked at Canterlot a distance... including Discord, who was now the size of a tower.

"So... that guy is..." Sonic and the rest of the Mobians, despite never facing Discord in the past, had heard about him from the ponies. And none of them was eager to face him again.

"Discord. The Spirit of Chaos. And one of the most dangerous, powerful beings in all of Equestria." Twilight replied without stopping to look at Discord.

"Okay. All those who don't know a thing about Discord... these are the emergency procedures to deal with him." Pinkie, very calmly, took a deep breath before getting histeric. "**RUN FOR THE HILLS!"**

"I actually agree with the crazy mare." Garble gulped, while the rest of his dragon companions, including Vex and Clud (who had joined the group as planned) nodded in agreement. "Even us, the dragons, know about Discord. And we don't wanna fight anything we can't burn."

"You said it, Garble. Okay, let's get out of here. If we hurry up, we'll be out of Equestria by midnight..." Clud was stopped by Knuckles.

"If this Discord is a Chaos Being, then we're more than suited to deal with him." Knuckles frowned. "I've guarded a Chaos Emerald long enough to know how to do it."

"And besides, the best way to handle Discord is at Canterlot; the Elements of Harmony." Rarity reminded everyone.

"Right. Let's hope we can get there before Discord stops us..." Twilight then got a little grin. "And it seems Princess Celestia is already doing something."

Canterlot was now covered by a huge magical force field, very similar to the ones Shining Armor could create, but this time he was getting the assistance of his wife, Cadence, and Princesses Luna and Celestia.

"Ah. Very nice work, Celestia." Discord laughed while hitting the force field. "Your trick might keep me from spreading my chaos all over Equestria, but it can't stop me forever. And besides, let me remind you that you're not just trapping me here with you; you're trapping yourselves WITH me."

Discord made his point by morphing the Canterlot's buildings into assorted things, from ice cream cones to thorn bushes. The ponies trying to escape or fight him were affected as well, with Discord disappearing the unicorns' horns and the pegasi's wings.

"Oh, this is so much fun. I can't wait to do the same out there." Discord grinned. "And I want to visit Twilight and the girls. I'm sure it will be quite a nice meeting."

"We'll need to cancel it!"

Discord turned to see Adam Warcolt charging at him. With Luna, Cadence and Celestia empowering Shining Armor's shield, Adam was the strongest alicorn available to fight him.

"Mmm... you're not familiar to me, Little Guy." Discord grinned while stretching his claws and arms to try grabbing the flying alicorn. "Still, it's always fun to squish an alicorn. And it will be easier if you can't fly."

Discord snapped his fingers and, at that moment, Adam lost his wings while still over 100 feet over the ground. Adam fell down at great speed, but, right before he could hit the ground, his wings returned and he could stop the fall. Discord was pretty surprised at this.

"How that happened? I'm the one who can do that trick." Discord gasped.

"Well, guess now there's two of us."

Discord turned to see Spike, standing on top of a large building, and realized he had the Reality Stone in his claws.

"Hey, I know you. You're Twilight Sparkle's little pet. Does she know you're playing with important stuff?" Discord smirked at him. "And do you think she'll like to know you released me?"

"Well, if using this stone was what released you, then I'm gonna correct that mistake!" Spike growled at him.

"Little guy, get real. You're nothing but a baby." Discord grinned while using his magic to give Spike an instant dress up; a bonet, diapers, and a baby bottle. "And yes, the Reality Stone is powerful, but I'm the Spirit of Chaos. Messing up with reality is my speciality, and you don't have the power or the spirit to handle the stone's abilities."

"Oh, trust me, I do." Spike grinned while taking out the Infinity Staff. Discord stopped smiling immediately.

"You... you're using..."

"Yes, I am. And now I have the Power and Soul Ston at my side... it's time to get real." Spike smirked while placing the Reality Stone in the staff. Instantly, the three stones' powers combined, and he got covered in a bright aura; when the aura disappeared, he no longer was wearing the baby outfit but a chest armor, red cape, and the staff had morphed into a large sword, plus he had turned into a much more muscular and taller version of himself.

Discord, angry, tried using his powers on him again, but Spike's sword deflected his energy, and a moment later, Spike was flying, without needing wings, and aiming the sword at Discord's neck. The chaotic being barely avoided the attack, and then teleported away from Spike. Since the magical field restrained his powers, Discord couldn't teleport out of it, so he was still trapped in Canterlot with Spike; Discord was just glad that Spike couldn't use the Elements of Harmony or this fight would already been over.

"Okay, maybe I can't affect you directly, but I can affect everything around you." Discord appeared several diamond-made walls around Spike, and used them to form a prison for the dragon. Spike broke free almost instantly; and he had chewing something very crunchy.

"The dragons eat diamonds, Genius." Spike charged at Discord again. The villain then stretched his tail to grab Spike, and then morphed the tail into several ones, immobilizing Spike's limbs, head and tail.

"Your sword can't hurt me if you can't move your hands to use it."

"Then, I need extra hands." Spike growled while using the Reality Stone's energies; in a moment, he grew an extra set of arms, and before Discord could immobilize them too, Spike used his new hands to grab the sword and cut the tentacles.

"Didn't see that coming." Discord admitted before appearing a swarm of parasprites. "My own special breed; these eat anything."

"Let's see if they eat fire!" Spike covered himself with his cape, and once the swarm covered him, he made the cape erupt in flames, eliminating all the bugs instantly.

"How can you get so many ideas to use the Reality Stone? You just got it!" Discord growled before summoning assorted items to hit Spike, from anvils and rocks to a giant kitchen sink.

"You read a lot when you work in a library." Spike replied while cutting his way through the many projectiles. "I've read enough adventures stories, and participated in a few real ones myself, to know how to fight anything you throw at me... okay, the giant clown face was a surprise." Spike admitted while dodging exactly that, a large clown face.

While all this happened, Discord started using his powers in a more subtle way. The time he corrupted the Elements of Harmony, he had used telepathy to read their minds and find out their personal weaknesses, and now it was time to do the same with Spike. The villainous creature grinned when finding it.

"I see you're trying to be a hero, but let's be honest here; you're not a pony. You're a dragon. A Beast. A monster, just like me. No wonder Rarity rejected you; and you think that Sally will be any different? Face it, Spike, no girl will ever fall for you because they'll never see you as anything more than a mere monster."

Spike stopped fighting and growled at Discord, and at that moment he was hit in the head by a flying piano. When Spike recovered from the hit, the next thing he saw was Discord holding a giant golf club.

"**Fore!"**

However, the club never hit Spike, because he morphed it into a... giant number 4.

"Oh. A visual pun. Not bad." Discord growled before ripping the 4. "But that's my thing, not yours!"

"What's the matter, Discord? You don't like it when others mess with Reality?" Spike grinned at him. "And you think you're gonna play with my head just like you did with my friends'? Newsflash..." Spike aimed his sword at Discord and shot him with lightning. "I learn from my mistakes, Discord, and more importantly, I learn from my friends. Twilight told me everything about you, and if I don't pay attention to your manipulations, you can't mess with my head!"

"Stupid dragon... I don't need to manipulate you to change you! Your friend Fluttershy resisted me, and I forced the change on her!"

"Yes, but I have the Infinity Staff, and we already established you can't affect me directly while I'm holding it. But thanks for reminding me about what you did to Fluttershy." Spike growled and then growed up to his adult size, rivaling Discord's. "You said it; we are monsters. And I'm the monster in charge!"

Spike punched Discord with such strength the villain lost his trademark large fang and take him down. The dragon then morphed the sword into a whip, and caught the fang before it hit the ground, then using the fang as a knife to stab Discord's bat-like wing, pinning him to the ground.

"And this monster learned about some spell that can stop you for good from the Reality Stone. Of course, using it would require too much power... And remember what other Stones I have?" Spike grinned while standing over Discord and morphing the staff into a gauntlet, that was now glowing with energy.

"No... you... can't... stop me..." Discord extended his hands to try restraining Spike. "And no force in Equestria can..."

"Except the Elements of Harmony, remember?" Spike said with glowing eyes.

At the train, the Mane Six started glowing as well.

"W-what's going on?" Rainbow Dash gasped.

"I... I don't know... but... this feels..." Twilight then calmed down. "Good."

"Yeah... it's almost like..." Applejack smiled while the others felt more comfortable as well.

"When we use the Elements of Harmony." Fluttershy added.

"But this time... guess someone is using them... by using us... from a distance." Twilight said, surprised. "But... that wouldn't be possible... it can't be... real..."

But of course, with the Reality Stone under Spike's command, and the Power Stone increasing its energies plus the Soul Stone giving Spike a 'direct link' with his friends' spirits, it wasn't impossible. Discord realized it too; Spike was using the Mane Six's energies to get a direct connection with the Elements of Harmony, and now was channeling their power through the Infinity Staff.

"And since we already know the 'statue thing' isn't completely fool proof... Let me try something else." Spike grinned while placing the gauntlet in the middle of Discord's chest.

"N-no-no-no-no-no-no-no...!" Discord sweated cold and struggled to escape, without any success.

"Curse Mark. Power Sealing. Say good-bye to your powers!"

Adam, who had been following the battle as closely as possible, sent a mental message to Celestia, who then made Shining Armor, Cadence and Luna to close the magical shield and, instead of covering all Canterlot, it focused only on Spike and Discord's massive forms. It was a good thing because the energies liberated by the spell Spike applied on Discord could have destroyed a good portion of the city.

A moment later, everything was over. The shield disappeared, and Spike was back to his normal size plus the gauntlet was a staff again. Discord was in front of him, alive but immobile, and much smaller than before; he was barely the same size as Garble.

"What... what did you..." Discord started waking up, and looked at his chest; it had a dragon claw-shaped scar. Discord tried to make it disappear, but it was impossible; in fact, except for the time he was trapped as a statue, he had never felt so powerless.

"You didn't hear what I said, Discord? You have no powers. And the spell I activated will be active until all the magic I used to cast it disappears too; and we both know the Infinity Stones and the Elements of Harmony aren't likely to disappear in like, forever." Spike grinned a bit. "In other words, enjoy being a mortal. Mmm... you'll need someone to teach you how to use the bathroom."

"You... you... you..."

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you're gonna get stuck with a 'one word speech' now. Of course, if the only thing you're gonna say is 'You', remind me to introduce you to my friend Owlicious; the only thing he says is 'Who'. You two would make fast friends." Spike smirked at Discord, who really wanted to beat him up... but fainted at that moment. "Good night, Discord. See you tomorrow... or better not."

As all this happened, the damage caused by the battle started repairing by itself, just like it had happened the last time Discord was defeated.

"I really like how things get fixed around here. I wouldn't want to pay for all the damages." Spike chuckled while Adam landed next to him.

"After stopping Discord, I think Celestia would extend you a good line of credit." Adam chuckled. "Well done, Spike. And good idea about using the Elements' energy."

"Well, I know I could have stopped him with just the Stones, but that fight could have destroyed half of Equestria, while the Elements of Harmony, when used right, can defeat him in a split second." Spike shrugged. "I thought about transforming him back to stone, but even with the Infinity Staff, I'm not an Element myself and didn't want to abuse their power, just using them so my own powers could be enough to hurt Discord and cast the spell on him."

"A very wise use of both the Infinity Staff and the Elements of Harmony, Spike." Celestia, Luna, and Cadence (carrying Shining Armor) landed in front of Spike at that moment.

"No more doubts of your capacity to hold such power, Sir Spike." Luna now gave him a respectful nod.

"Sir? Whoa... talk about a promotion." Spike chuckled a bit before smiling at Luna and giving her a little bow.

"Speaking about 'talk', hope you are ready to talk a lot, because you'll need to explain this to Twilight and the others." Shining Armor grinned at Spike.

"Oh, right... I sensed them when I got access to the Element's magic; they're not far from here." Spike sighed. "Think we can power up Discord again, at least for a moment? It sounds easier than explaining EVERYTHING."

Suddenly, Spike, Shining Armor, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Adam heard laughing coming from Discord.

"You may have beaten me little dragon, but it makes little difference, you think you're a hero now, but I stand by what I said, 'no girl will ever fall in love with you because they'll never see you as anything more than a mere monster', for who can ever love a beast, like you?"

"Does this guy ever shut up or what?" Shining Armor groaned.

"You shouldn't be that arrogant now, Discord. In case you hadn't realized, you've lost your powers and you're severely outnumbered." Celestia frowned at Discord while slowly approaching him.

"Well... uh... you see..." Discord then pointed at a distance. "Look, a distraction!"

Everyone but Celestia turned at the direction Discord was pointing, and then the monster dashed away, using his wings to gain height and jump/fly over the nearby buildings.

"He really is desperate." Celestia sighed. "We better catch him now before he hurts somepony or even himself."

"But I thought he no longer had his powers." Shining Armor arched an eyebrow.

"He no longer has his magic, but he's still a creature with the combined abilities of several animals. Not enough to spread grand-scale chaos but still dangerous at a local level." Luna agreed with her sister. Spike nodded at them and used the Infinity Staff to transform himself into his warrior/knight shape again, this time adding a set of large dragon wings to fly after Discord, while Shining Armor used his magic to send a signal to his soldiers, telling them to keep civilians safe while Spike handled Discord. Adam also joined the chase yet keeping himself at a distance from Spike, since he wanted to see how the dragon would manage himself against Discord in a street-level fight.

At that moment, the Mane Six, Mobians and teen dragons finally arrived at Canterlot, at high speed, thanks to Rainbow Dash and Daemon's wings, Sonic's velocity, and Twilight and Fiona's teleportation abilities.

"How come everything ended already?" Rarity asked Twilight.

"I thought we had to be present to use the Elements, but somehow Princess Celestia accessed our energies to use them herself and defeat Discord... but... that didn't feel like her magic." Twilight admitted.

"Maybe it was Luna's?" Rainbow guessed.

"Why don't we ask Spike? He's over there chasing Discord." Pinkie commented casually, making the others to look at the same direction she was pointing. They all gasped at the sight of Spike's muscular, winged shape... especially Sally, who also blushed notably.

"That's Spike?" Garble exclaimed, his jaw almost hitting the ground. "First he beats us up as if we were just a bunch of baby lizards, and now he has wings too? Seriously... what do you ponies do with dragons that live among you?"

"I think we should go ask him." Lupe proposed as she started running to join Spike, the others following after her a moment later... and Sonic running ahead two moments later.

Meanwhile, Discord was trying to find a place to hide or an escape route. No longer having magic, he now had to rely on his cunning and animal abilities.

"Hey, ugly, going somewhere?" Sonic stepped in front of Discord.

"Step aside, Blue Boy, I'm in a hurry." Discord flew above Sonic, who then jumped and grabbed him by the tail.

"Heh, you're telling me about a 'hurry'? No doubt you don't know me." Sonic then dashed and ran over his tail and back before kicking his head from behind, causing Discord to crash land. "Sonic's the name, and speed is my..."

**FWOOSH!**

"**... Whoa!"** Sonic barely dodged a flame coming from Discord's mouth.

"Sometimes even 'I' forget I have a dragon head." Discord growled at Sonic. "Let me give you a reminder."

Discord's next attack wasn't even close to touching Sonic because Spike landed in the middle, morphing his skin into a diamond-like substance that resisted the flames perfectly.

"Heh, I look so good I'd eat myself." Spike grinned before turning at Sonic. "Hi, Sonic."

"Hi, Spike. Looking good, bro; you workin out at the gym?" Sonic grinned at him.

"We'll chat later. Let me handle this guy; you stay around to keep civilians away so Discord can't get hostages or hurt anypony else." Spike turned back at Discord while Sonic did as his friend said and kept his distance.

"Well, Spike, you really look delicious. And since I just remembered I have a dragon head, and dragons eat diamonds..." Discord pounced on Spike, who then morphed again, this time into an energy being; basically, it looked like a dragon made entirely of electricity, giving Discord a very powerful shock.

Discord, having dragon skin as well, survived the shock, but realized he couldn't hurt Spike now, and tried to escape again, but now Spike had morphed into a plant-like dragon, and extended his arms like vines, trapping Discord with relative ease and tying up his muzzle and claws so he couldn't eat or slash his way out. Discord, however, wasn't completely defenseless, and after taking a deep breath, he threw a large flame out of his nostrils, burning some of the vines and escaping Spike's grip.

"This guy is really starting to annoy me." Spike groaned before trying to catch him again. Discord then tried to enter a nearby house, thinking he could probably get a pony as a hostage and use him/her as a living shield, but Sonic stopped him by using his high-speed rolling attack and hitting Discord's side, sending him several feet away.

Discord, not unconscious yet, avoided Spike's next attack, another energy beam, and tried to fly away again, but when he gained some height...

"Hey, Discord, long time no seeing you! Wanna meet a friend?"

Discord looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying above him, and dropping an elastic powered canine over him; Lupe, who was now getting mallet-like hands.

"This is gonna hurt." Discord gulped.

**WHACK!**

**WHAM!**

"Nnnngh... I was right..." Discord groaned in pain while rubbing his face and back after receiving two mallet hits at once and crash-landing.

"Spike, grab him before he escapes!" Lupe, who, along with Rainbow, had seen some of the fight from their flying position, turned at Spike, knowing he now had powers that would allow him restrain Discord.

"Grabbing him now... wait... grab... gravity..." Spike got a sly grin. "Why not?"

Spike morphed himself again, this time becoming a huge rock-like creature with a spheric shape.

"Let's see if I learned something from Twilight; gravity is the force that pulls objects down to earth. So... down, Discord!" Spike's eyes started glowing, and then the rest of his body, extending this glow to the ground around him and under Discord's feet.

Discord tried to fly away but he was pulled down by Spike's power, and soon he couldn't even stand up, feeling his limbs as heavy as if they were made of rock. Soon, he couldn't even move his wings, as they became as heavy as the rest of his body.

"No... you... can't... turn me... into a statue... again..."

"I'm not making you into a statue; just making you as heavy as one." Spike grinned. "Now... how am I gonna restrain you this time? Obviously, I can't keep you like this forever."

"Heh, you don't need to restrain someone who's unconscious." Sonic and Rainbow shared a sly smirk and then dashed at top speed against Discord. Spike turned off his gravity power when they got close enough, and a moment later Discord was receiving a quite hard double impact that knocked him out for good.

"That was great, guys!" Spike chuckled before changing back to his 'knight' shape.

"How about you? You were awesome! Like... 200% more awesome than ever!" Rainbow congratulated him. Before Spike could reply, he heard two other voices behind him.

"I really agree with Rainbow."

"Yes, Spike, you were... extremely impressive."

"Twi? Sally?" Spike turned to see the purple unicorn and the elastic princess approaching, and the rest of the group behind them.

"Oh, hi, guys and gals... uh... eh... you... want an explanation, right?" Spike chuckled nervously.

"That would be a nice detail." Twilight smirked at him.

"Well... you see..." Spike paused when seeing Garble and his gang. "Hey, what are those punks doing here?"

"They came with us; and don't change the subject, Young Dragon." Twilight was now getting a frown. "Spike, I understand your reasons to leave, but you have any idea of how worried we all were about you? You have any idea of how worried **I WAS!?"**

Spike looked down and rub one of his arms while slightly scratching the ground with one foot, the perfect image of a child that is getting lectured by his mother, or, in this case, older sister. It was particularly amusing now that Spike, who had gotten a power level comparable to a highly experienced alicorn or a very strong adult dragon, could still feel intimidated by Twilight.

"I... I'm sorry, Twi... and... yeah, guess I could have told you personally when I left... instead of just sending a letter..." Spike sighed. "But... this was important... this IS important. You just saw it!"

"Yes, I did. And I also felt how somepony (or dragon) used us to control the Elements of Harmony from a distance." Twilight sighed before smiling slightly. "Guess... I can forgive you this time... if you now allow me to congratulate my little brother."

"Permission granted." Spike smiled at her before the dragon and unicorn embraced, everyone else looking at this scene in silence and enjoying it.

"Oh, and by the way, I have a crush on Sally." Spike whispered in Twilight's ear.

"I kinda suspected it." Twilight whispered back.

**BONK!**

Everyone turned to see Sally, in her muscular form, holding Discord by the collar with one hand while the other formed a large fist.

"Heh... sorry; I saw him trying to get away."

"What's not to love about her?" Spike whispered at Twilight before sighing and smiling at Sally, who couldn't help but blush again.

"This is lovable and all, but can you please explain to us what's going on here?" Tails asked Spike. At that moment, Adam landed in front of the group.

"I think we can discuss that at the palace, after dropping Discord in an adequate prison." Adam then looked at Twilight. "Adam Warcolt; glad to meet you, Miss Sparkle."

"Same here... and I'd like to discuss your idea of taking Spike away without asking for permission first, Sir." Twilight frowned at Adam in a way that actually made Adam to cringe a bit.

"Heh... no wonder Spike was so glad to see you happy, Miss Sparkle. I wouldn't want to get on your bad side."

"Oh, this is gonna get good." Rainbow grinned. "Too bad I didn't bring any popcorn."

"I did." Pinkie Pie, holding two bags of popcorn, a soda, and wearing 3-D glasses, smiled at Rainbow.

Once everyone remembered this was Pinkie Pie and therefore it was better not to overthink this, the group went to the palace, with Adam using his magic to carry the unconscious Discord, and Garble and the other dragons, once again, wondering if all ponies were much tougher than they expected.


	8. The Quest for the Infinity Gems Part 2

Chapter 8 - The Quest for the Infinity Gems Part 2

A while later, Discord was on his way to a special cell, escorted by Shining Armor and his guards, while Spike and his friends went to Celestia and Luna's throne room. As they saw Discord getting carried away, with one of Shining's force fields covering him as an extra precaution, Twilight finally noticed the villain had a large claw-shaped scar on his chest, and recognized it as a curse mark.

"Spike... you used a curse on Discord." Twilight looked at her semi-brother. "That was..."

"Yeah, I know, cursing anyone is a bit too much... not the nicest thing to do, even to a guy like Discord... but Twilight, it was either that, or turning him into a statue again; and I don't think that's a nice thing to do either. Not that I am criticizing Princesses Celestia and Luna for doing it in the first place, but..." Twilight interrupted Spike by gently placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"I know. What I wanted to say is that it was quite impressive. You used very advanced magic."

"Well, basically, that curse mark is meant to neutralize his powers." Spike smiled back at her. "I didn't want to kill the guy, and the stone thing... well, I already said it, that's a bit too extreme for me to do, so I looked for another option."

"And how did you do that?" Rainbow asked him.

"Yeah, and how did yah get those muscles so fast? Twi and the others already guessed something about some stones, but..." Applejack arched an eyebrow at the dragon.

"Yeah, the Infinity Stones." Spike took out his staff and showed it to his friends. "Each one gives me a different power, and when you have more than one, the stones can empower each other. To fight Discord, I got access to the Elements of Harmony through you gals, and perform the curse spell, I had to use the Reality Stone, but in order to give me enough energy and concentration to use the stone's powers at maximum capacity, I had to use the Power Stone's energies to increase my resistance and the Reality Stone's might, and the Soul Stone to connect my soul and mind with the original Elements'."

"And you did a wonderful job, Spike." Princess Celestia, already waiting for everypony at the room, greeted them, with Luna at her side.

"Whoa... for a pony princess, she's kinda impressive." Fume whispered at Garble, who just nodded.

"You think she knows you once insulted her and you also destroyed one of her letters..." Vex stopped talking when Garble grabbed his muzzle, the red dragon gulping a bit at this. If these winged, horn-forehead ponies were the ones teaching Spike how to use such powerful spells, Garble REALLY didn't want to anger them.

"Thanks, Princess Celestia." Spike, like everypony else at the room but Luna, made a respectful bow. "One question... why didn't you stop Discord when he used the 'look, a distraction' trick?"

"A distraction? Where?" Pinkie Pie and some of the dragons started looking around.

"Pinkie, he said it was a trick from Discord." Fiona whispered, stopping both the pink pony and the dragons.

"To answer your question, Spike, yes, I could have done it, but, Adam will tell you the same, we wanted to see how you'd use the Infinity Stones' abilities in an urban area, in ways that wouldn't damage property too much while still being capable of capturing a very tricky enemy without destroying him." Celestia explained him. "We're more than pleased with your performance."

"About that, Princess Celestia..." Twilight walked next to Spike while addressing her mentor. "Why you gave him this... responsibility? Being the wielder of the Infinity Stones is a great deal; not even the Elements of Harmony are such a burden, as they wouldn't hurt anypony if used without care... in fact, they wouldn't even be used at all."

"That's correct, Twilight, but it wasn't me who decided to give Spike this responsibility. It was Adam Warcolt's idea, and after this visit, Luna and I fully support him."

"Thanks, Auntie." Adam smiled at Celestia. Everypony but the dragons and Mobians got a bit surprised at this.

"Auntie? Oh, man... how much family do you Princesses have... if I may ask?" Rainbow asked, changing to a more polite tone when remembering who she was talking to.

"Why is that so surprising? They're obviously the same kind of pony." Knuckles asked.

"Yes, but they're 'alicorns', Knuckles." Fluttershy explained him. "They can... live for several hundred years. In that time, they can have very large families... but since they're the rarest type of pony, you don't see alicorns very often..."

"And you can't be sure of how alicorns are related to one another until we mention it out loud." Luna continued the explanation.

"So, you're telling me that you either can have a very large family or have just a few relatives here and there, and not seeing each other for centuries?" Maria asked. "Whoa, talk about the burdens of longevity."

"You have no idea." Adam rolled his eyes yet smiled. "Anyway, I found Spike in the Everfree Forest, and, since I've made a living out of training heroes, I could recognize his potential almost immediately. Also, he was motivated and had no plans for the immediate future, so why not?"

"A Heroes Trainer... talk about a cool job." Sonic grinned.

"Yes, the salary is terrible but the schedule is very flexible." Adam shrugged and everyone jumped when hearing a rimshot. They all turned to see Pinkie Pie with a set of drums and cymbals.

"What? I thought he was joking." Pinkie grinned.

"Seriously, living with this pony must be a real punishment..." Shakes rolled his eyes and was interrupted by another rimshot.

"PINKIE!"

"What? He said a pun; you know... PUNishment."

"Okay, two things; first, cut that out; and second... where did you get those instruments?" Adam asked her. Before Pinkie could reply, Rarity interrupted everything.

"Don't tell us where you got the instruments, Pinkie; that would be too long to hear. But really, cut that out."

"Okie-dokey-lokey." Pinkie grinned and took out a saw. "I'm cutting now; which half do you want?"

"Pinkie Pie, Just stop doing what you're doing." Sally rolled her eyes at this.

Pinkie was about to reply when Celestia, smiling, looked at her.

"Please, Pinkie, we appreciate your humor, but right now we have other business to attend."

"Oh. Okay." Pinkie replied in a very calm, polite way, and carried her instruments out of sight.

"And that's why she's the Princess." Spike commented in a joking manner yet nopony argued with him.

"Anyway, unlike my aunts, or Cadence, I was never comfortable with being in charge for long periods; I can take a leading role once in awhile, but I'm not a natural sovereign. My call was either on the battlefield or preparing others for it... except, of course, for my... brief period as an artist."

"Not that brief, Adam. It lasted almost 50 years." Celestia looked back at the others. "He actually did most of the castle's windows' original vitrals including the one showing how Luna and I defeated Discord the first time."

"Ah... good times... yes, sometimes I forget that's what a brief time for alicorns is a long period for most." Adam sighed. "That makes our times with our loved ones much more... valuable."

All those with enough empathy (meaning everyone minus the dragons that weren't Spike) realized he was referring to a lost love.

"A very long time ago... long time even for alicorns... I fell in love with the most beautiful unicorn; she was an artist too... White, bright coat; the most wonderful blue eyes I've ever seen..." Adam stopped talking and gave Rarity a quick look. "Actually, she looked a lot like the young lady here, except that mine was a bit older when we first met."

"Oh. You have good taste, Sir." Rarity smiled at him before getting back a serious look as Adam continued with his story.

"We were quite happy together... but one day, she fell ill... and no cure, conventional or magical, made any difference in her condition. Then, my aunts increased my magic so my spirit could travel to the Spiritual World, where I contacted the most powerful of all entities, the Living Tribunal, and I made a deal with it... a lifetime of protecting the Infinity Stones from whoever that could abuse their power, in exchange for my beloved's life." Adam sighed. "It worked, of course, as there are few things the Infinity Stones can't do when used all at once... but... well... after some time, my beloved and I grew distant... and she... left me for another pony."

Everyone but Celestia and Luna got a shocked expression.

"You pretty much sold your soul to an omnipotent force for this mare, and she still left you?" Rarity frowned. "Okay, now I'm sure we're not that alike as I thought."

"Yeah, you sold your soul to save your gal's life, and how does she thank you? By running off with some other stallion?" Sonic frowned and softened himself a bit when looking at Adam's expression again. "Mmm... she hurt you real bad, didn't she, Adam?"

"What she did wasn't funny at all." Pinkie Pie frowned as well. "She was a very big meanie."

"Probably... still, I'm glad I could help her." Adam shrugged. "Besides, somepony had to take care of the Infinity Stones. Still, I soon realized I couldn't use the Stones myself because of how dangerous it would be."

"If these stones are so dangerous, why giving them to Spike now?" Lobo asked.

"Because Spike, being a dragon, has a good potential for developing impressive abilities..." Adam looked at Garble and his group grinning at this, "... and unlike other dragons, he already had the disposition to not grow up to become a jerk."

Garble and his group wanted to argue but realized Adam had a point and kept quiet.

"In other words, Spike was already willing to control the very considerable power level he'd get from adulthood and use it responsibly, so he'd do the same with any special power he'd gain, like the ones granted by the Infinity Stones. Plus, since he's not an alicorn or some other extremely magically-powered being, the power has less chances of corrupting him, and in the VERY improbable case he gets corrupted, it would be mildly easier to stop him than, let's say, Celestia, Luna or myself." Adam continued. When Twilight opened her mouth to argue this, Princess Celestia interrupted her.

"I know you're about to defend me, Twilight, and I appreciate it, but Adam is right; absolute power corrupts absolutely. It sadly occurred to Luna once, as we all know, and I'm not as 'perfect' as many ponies think; I have my own set of flaws, and if I appear 'perfect' at times is because I've lived long enough to gain experience and wisdom from several mistakes I committed when I was younger. If I had been this experienced a thousand years ago, I'd have found a better way to help Luna instead of sending her to the moon." Celestia sighed sadly at the last part while Luna comforted her. Obviously, even if she had to do it to save Equestria, this kind of drastic action was a big shame and a source of sadness for Celestia.

"And that's also why we had to find a good wielder for the Infinity Stones." Adam continued. "Someone who wouldn't get corrupted that easily, that is already mind-set to use his abilities for good, and is already used to control his own dark side; in Spike's case, his greed. Taking all this into consideration, Spike can use the stones far more responsibly than most ponies, and it's very unlikely he'll ever become a threat to Equestria, as Nightmare Moon, King Sombra or Discord were in the past."

"I see... and guess we all agree that, taking all those facts into consideration, Spike is definitely suited for the job." Twilight said, smiling tenderly at Spike while the others nodded in agreement.

"Uh... one doubt." Sonic arched an eyebrow. "Why you didn't ask Twilight or her friends too, I mean, aren't they some sort of magical elite force or something?"

"The Elements of Harmony." Pinkie Pie grinned at Sonic. "And of course we wouldn't be good for the job, Sonic! Those stones are gonna outlast ANYPONY here but the alicorns, so the one wielding them must be capable of living for a very long time. And dragons live for centuries."

Everypony (and not pony) at the room stared at Pinkie Pie.

"Must remember; the pink one is crazy but not stupid." Garble thought out loud.

"A very good reason, Pinkie Pie." Adam smiled at the grinning Earth pony. "Also, you Elements of Harmony already have a good amount of power, and as we already established, having absolute power can be corrupting."

"What powers do they have?" Shakes asked, a bit confused at this, just like most of the dragons.

"Twilight Sparkle is the most talented student I've ever had, with potential to become the best spellcaster ever." Celestia looked at her blushing student before looking at the rest of the Elements. "Rainbow Dash is the most gifted flyer in Equestria, capable of performing the fabled Sonic Rainboom; Applejack is extremely capable (physically speaking) and while she doesn't excel in many areas, she covers a wide range of talents; Rarity has an unique link with jewelry, so you can imagine how much she'd bond with magical items like the Infinity Stones; Fluttershy's connections with the natural world and her capacities to control wild creatures is almost magical; and Pinkie Pie is..." Celestia paused. "Pinkie Pie."

"Aw, I have a whole category for myself? Thank you!" Pinkie smiled at the sovereign who just shook her head a bit yet smiled back.

Everyone had to agree with Celestia, especially considering Pinkie's abilities; if she ever used her impossible skills for evil instead of laughter, she'd probably be more unstoppable than a hundred dragons.

"Gee, and to think we used to think ponies were all wimps." Fume said to Lyco while holding her hand. Spike turned at him when hearing his voice and noticed this, plus Garble doing the same with Nicole, Puff with Fiona, and Shakes with Leeta.

"Those guys are dating..." Spike whispered at Amy, the pink hedgehog nodding at him. "Whoa. I leave for a few days, and everything changes... Remind me to have a 'chat' with those guys later."

"The 'be a jerk to the girls and I'll beat you up' chat?" Amy, grinning, whispered back at him.

Spike simply nodded while getting a sly grin. Maybe he had to be responsible with the Stones' powers, but nopony would blame him for teaching a lesson to any punk being a jerk to his friends.

"Anyway, as you can see, Spike is pretty much the best option we have here. And now, he's ready to search for the next stone, the Mind one." Adam pointed out while Celestia nodded.

"The Mind Stone, unlike the Reality one, isn't in a secure vault, but hidden in another building here in Canterlot. Its nature makes the stone very hard to locate anyway, so adding security to it only makes the stone easier to find; in fact, without the Reality Stone, that Spike already has, it's almost impossible to locate the Mind Stone, and without the Soul, it's quite hard to control its power." Celestia continued.

"Mind and Soul... they go together, as in any good compromise, right?" Twilight deduced.

"You're right, Twilight Sparkle." Luna nodded at the young unicorn. "Some of the stones complement each other or facilitate the usage of another one. As for the Mind Stone's location, it's hidden in one of the most secure, non-vaulted places in Canterlot; my sister and mine's living quarters."

Some of the ponies gasped at this. Garble and the other non-Spike dragons, again, got puzzled looks.

"Eh... no mean to offense, Miss Luna, Princess, Sir..." Shakes, not used to speak to royalty, tried his best to use a polite tone... and got a little elbow hit in the ribs from Garble. "Oh, right, not 'Sir'... 'Ma'am'... or Mame... or whatever..."

"Your point, please." Luna arched an eyebrow, trying to be patient with the dragon while some of the ponies and Spike rolled their eyes.

"Right... why is your bedroom a very secure place to hide something as powerful as an Infinity Rock?" Shakes rubbed the back of his neck, not getting why a pony's living quarter would be safer than a vault.

"Infinity Stone. And you make a good question." Luna corrected him before explaining. "Since my sister and I can fly, the only way to enter our quarters is by flying; our living quarters have no access through stairways or normal doors. Also, we have secured them with magic, so nopony...or dragon.. can enter unless we give him/her permission. And, of course, the whole place is filled up with assorted magical and mechanical security devices to protect ourselves from any stealthy attacker and also to protect other important or valuable items of our property."

"She's right." Twilight then looked at the dragons. "Also, their living quarters are on top of two of Canterlot's highest, strongest-built towers. Even the walls have a magical protection so you can't climb them up, and if you are strong enough to break in, you alert the whole palace."

"Spike's Reality Stone already grants him entrance to our quarters, even if Luna and I didn't give him permission, which we already granted anyway. Still, even with the Soul Stone, it will take him awhile to search through the whole place; one of the reasons the Mind Stone is so hard to find is because it changes its location every certain time. Even if it never leaves our living quarters, Luna and I don't know ourselves where the Stone will hide itself or when it will change its location again." Celestia continued.

"Oh, I see... The Stone plays Mind Games." Pinkie giggled a bit. Nobody corrected or argued with her since, again, her playful logic had been totally right.

"Exactly." Celestia congratulated the pink pony before addressing the whole group again. "This stone's powers make the search a hide-and-seek game, one that can last forever unless you have the Reality and Soul Stones to help you track it down."

"And I've already have both of them." Spike nodded. "Plus I have the Power Stone too, and that one will give me the energy and focus to search non-stop for as long as I need."

"So, are yah telling us the Stones have to be found in a certain order so yah can locate and control them all." Applejack looked back at Adam.

"That's quite an ingenious way to protect them." Sally, looking at Adam too, agreed with Applejack.

"Exactly. Well, guess it's time to find the Mind Stone. I know you all might want to help Spike, but he already has everything he needs for this task; I'll be around for any assistance he might require but for the most part he must do this alone." Adam explained. Sally then approached him.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to join Spike. Even if he's the one searching, I can give him company so he doesn't be alone while searching; even if the Power Stone will give him the physical energy to search for hours without a break, he might still need a companion to keep him focused or to make the search a bit less mentally exhausting."

Spike smiled and blushed a bit at the idea, and many of his friends got knowing grins. Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance before smiling and nodding at Adam.

"I think you might have a good point, Princess Sally. Besides, as a princess, you qualify as a noble embassador and therefore you can ask for permission to visit the princesses' living quarters." Adam said to Sally.

"Permission granted." Luna and Celestia chorused.

"Hey, that's great and all," Rainbow commented while looking at Sally and Spike before turning back at the princesses, "but what are the rest of us going to do in the meantime?"

"Well, Rainbow Dash, I think the rest of you can use this chance to know the place. Most of you had never been in Canterlot at all, and those who had only know certain areas of the city." Celestia proposed.

"Yeah... I used to live here, and the only places I know are the castle, the school and the library." Twilight grinned sheepishly.

"We can see why." Sonic smirked while the others nodded in agreement with Celestia's idea.

"I can show you around." Cadence proposed. "You are all a large group so we can divide in smaller ones, in case some of you want to see only particular areas of Canterlot."

"Actually..." Fiona got a sly grin while looking at the male non-Spike dragons. "Maybe we can give our dragon friends a tour, since they had never been in a city before. Sure, most of us hadn't been in Canterlot here either but we know how to behave in a large city, so we can take the tour together."

Garble and his friends nodded in agreement, both excited and worried about taking this tour; even if they liked the idea of spending some quality time with their new (very pretty) friends, even the less educated among them were smart enough to know they lacked the education to act properly in a civilized area.

"Okay, it's settled then." Luna said. "Those who are dating, or already in a steady relationship, can tour around the city on their own, while the rest go in a large group with Cadence."

"And if you want to take a break, we'll have a few rooms ready for you." Celestia added. "Spike will be searching for the Mind Stone for some time, so you'll probably need to spend a couple of days in Canterlot while he finishes his mission, or at least as special guests."

"I wouldn't mind having some private time." Lupe grinned at Lobo, the large muscular wolf grinning back. Celestia noticed this and, with a little grin, called some of her servants and asked them to prepare several rooms; some would be for the couples only while others would accommodate 3 or 4 'beings' (since, obviously, only a handful of them were ponies) at once.

"I can recommend you a few good places." Spike said to the couples while calling them apart from the others. Unlike Twilight, Spike had a little social life when they lived in Canterlot, so he knew some nice spots that weren't that formal so Garble and the other dragons would have less troubles fitting in, unlike the very high-class, prestigious places that Rarity was recommending to the other couples (those who didn't have an uneducated dragon) like Maria and Daemon, since the white unicorn had been in Canterlot at times and she even got a good place among the city's elite.

"And these 'donuts' are good?" Fume asked Spike.

"Oh, trust me, they're great. Almost as good as jewels but much softer." Spike's description made the dragons to salivate a bit. "And guys, may I have a chat with you all, dragon-to-dragons?"

"Heh. Boys Talk." Lyco chuckled as she and the other girls allowed the dragons to talk in relative privacy; Sally, who already knew what they would be talking about, grinned at this.

"Okay, listen up." Spike now had a more serious expression; he paused a bit to make sure the others weren't overhearing and then continued in a low yet still quite serious tone. "You're not in the wild. You're in Canterlot. A very big, important pony city, with lots of innocent civilians that had rarely seen a dragon in their lives, and I don't want any of you to give them reasons to think all dragons are mindless brutes that only live for destruction. The only dragon most, if any, of these ponies had ever seen is Me, and I have tried to be a good example for our species; so you better not ruin my hard work, and restrain yourselves from starting any problems, or you'll be in big trouble. And not just with me; but with the Canterlot guards and the princesses themselves. Got it?"

The other dragons nodded at him.

"Uh... we can see why the guards can be a problem, but what can a princess..." Puff was interrupted by Spike.

"Let me put it this way; Princess Luna has the power to enter your dreams. She makes sure everypony has nice dreams and protects them from nightmares. But if you make her angry, well, imagine you only dream with your worst nightmares for the rest of your lives; and these princesses can live as much, if not most, than any dragon. You wanna spend the next century without a single good sleep night?" Spike frowned at Puff, the other dragon gulping at the idea. "And I'm just mentioning ONE of the princesses, and doing something relatively tame to you. You don't wanna see what they do with those who are actually evil."

Again, the dragons nodded at Spike, this time quite nervously.

"Good. And If you do anything to those girls, forget about the princesses or the guards; you'll have to deal with ME. And since I don't have as many fancy magic tricks as them, at least not now, I'll be MUCH rougher. And once I finish kicking your tails, breaking your wings, and make you eat your own teeth, I'm sending you all back to the Roost where they'll never have to worry about you again, got it?"

Now the other dragons were more than terrified of Spike.

"Oh, silly me; I almost forgot to tell you I won't be the only one beating you up if you hurt the girls. Wanna hear about the blue guy who moves so quickly he can punch you a hundred times before you even realize you're going down? Or the winged wolf that can summon a storm on your heads? Or maybe the guy with the spiky hands that breaks boulders as if they were nuts? Ah, and maybe I should warn you about Lupe, the elastically-powered co-leader of a race of butt-kickers that would probably eat any of you for breakfast if you hurt a single hair of her wolves' tails?"

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Garble said in a hurry. "We do wrong, you guys'll eviscerate us. We get it, just enough with the threats already."

"Whoa... didn't know you knew what 'eviscerate' means." Spike grinned.

"Eh... what does 'eviscerate' mean?" Shakes asked. Garble then whispered something in his ear and Shakes got a panicked face almost instantly.

"Okay, the vocabulary lesson's over. Now we've chatted about why it would be a very bad idea to hurt the girls, or any pony here, you guys can go and have fun." Spike now looked much more relaxed. "Be nice guys and don't screw things up, and you'll enjoy a nice date with the gals without worrying about your internal organs getting ripped out."

The dragons relaxed a bit, yet still remembered Spike's threats, as they wanted their internal organs to remain... 'internal'. Spike, satisfied enough, joined Sally and Adam, as they were about to leave the room; after sharing a quick embrace with Twilight, the purple dragon and company left to the Princesses' living quarters.

Like Celestia and Luna explained, it wasn't easy to access the rooms. Even with the Princesses changing the protection spells so they could enter without problems, the group still felt a little shock when entering the room; not enough to hurt them but it was still strong enough to get stunned for a few moments.

"Whoa... what was that?" Spike gasped.

"A special spell that keeps anypony who isn't a female alicorn from entering this place. They lowered its power and adapted it for us to enter, but that spell is pretty much connected to this place as a whole, so it can't get completely deactivated." Adam explained to them as he recovered from the shock as well. "Okay, I sense no other defensive spells working, except some that will keep intruders from entering while we're here, but those spells aren't as hard to modify so they recognize us as guests and we're not at any risk of suffering them."

Spike sighed in relief; even with the Infinity Stones he already had, he'd still resent any protective spell casted by Princesses Celestia and/or Luna.

"Okay, time to start searching. I have an idea." Sally then morphed into her Mobian Wolf shape, but made sure of making it a bit sexier than usual. Spike blushed at the sight while Adam grinned slightly at the dragon's reaction.

"I think Spike will have troubles keeping himself focused while you take this shape, Princess." Adam commented.

"Well, in this shape, my smell sense is as good as a real wolf's. If the Mind Stone has some scent of its own, and it's similar to the other stones or the Infinity Staff's, I can track it down." Sally explained. Spike reacted and took the staff out, giving it to the princess so she could sniff it a bit and get its particular scent.

"Got it." Sally smiled before giving the staff back to Spike. Then, she got on all fours, like a normal non-anthro wolf, and started sniffing around the room, with Spike closely behind her; then, probably on purpose on Sally's side, her tail brushed against his chest, the young dragon gulping at this and freezing on the spot. Adam finally got enough self control to stop himself from laughing loudly at the scene and gave Spike a light push with his magic, making the dragon to react and continue following Sally as she sniffed all over the place.

Meanwhile, at the palace's guest rooms, Lupe and Lobo entered the one Princess Celestia assigned for them. Being the leaders of a whole race, the wolves had some special privileges, proper of any royal visitor or embassador, so their room was among the largest ones and very close to Celestia and Luna's quarters.

"And to think Spike and Sally are up there." Lobo, looking through one of the room's windows, looked up at the impressive tower. "Maybe they should have taken some lunch with them in case they really spend several hours and even days working."

"I'm sure they'll be fine. And I'm sure you should turn back." Lupe, with a very seductive voice, talked to Lobo, causing him to turn back and, almost instantly, to wag his tail in excitement.

Lupe was currently on the bed, doing a sexy pose, and, most notably, she had morphed into the most sensual shape she could imagine; besides having a much longer hairdo that covered most of her back, her body was extremely curvy, with a chest that would be the envy of any movie actress, and long, firm legs that Lobo couldn't wait to feel around his body.

"We had been very busy lately. And we can't go too... wild... at the Apples' farm, because Applebloom might hear us... So, I thought, since we're staying here for a while, and this is a nice, private room."

"I love how you think." Lobo said while sitting next to her and starting to kiss and caress her face and body. Moaning in delight, Lupe stretched one of her arms to lock the door and close the window, just to make sure they wouldn't get interrupted, and then gave Lobo her whole attention. Luckily, the room granted a lot of privacy and the walls were mostly sound-proof, or everypony in Canterlot could have heard them.

Meanwhile, Nicole, Fiona, Leeta and Lyco were already on the street with Garble, Puff, Shakes and Fume, looking for the places Spike recommended them to hang around. The dragons were enjoying their time with the females, and also were quite interested in the city, as they had never been in a pony town before, so a huge city like Canterlot was very amazing and a bit intimidating as well. Not to mention they also wanted to show the girls that they were more than a gang of brutes and that they could behave in a civilized place... even if they were obviously struggling.

"Okay... where did Spike say we could eat those donuts things?" Puff asked to his companions.

"Do any of you know how a donut smells like?" Fume scratched his head. "That way we'd find it with ease."

"Ponies usually don't use their noses all the time to find stuff; they look for the address." Nicole explained them. "Spike said we had to walk down the McGraw Lane and find Mister Ed Street."

"And that would be..?" Garble groaned, as he and the other dragons started looking at the signs at the street, and not getting a word. "Oh, come on, why ponies have to write words with letters?"

"Well, usually, when you write anything, you have to use letters." Fiona grinned at Garble's accidental humor.

"They should use drawings. Like... uh... if they want you to know there's a donut place around, they can draw a donut on the sign." Shakes commented.

"Actually, they do, and the same thing happens with most stores." Leeta then pointed out at some stores around them, most of them with drawings on their entrances. "But since you don't just find the donut store at that street, but several other stores, and maybe a few homes too, it's more practical to name the street."

"Oh." The dragons chorused before blushing in embarrasement.

"You girls must think we're a bunch of morons." Garble sighed. Nicole put an arm over his shoulders and comforted him, while the other girls did the same with their respective dragons.

"We don't think you guys are morons. Just...uh... ignorants." Nicole tried to make it sound as non-offensive as possible. "This is the first time you guys visit a city, and you hadn't received the proper education. It's natural you're not gonna know most of the stuff the ponies and even us, The Mobians, take for granted."

"Just remember, nopony... and in fact, nobody... knows all this stuff since birth. Even a rural pony would make mistakes visiting a large city for the first time." Fiona explained. "That's why we are gonna help you guys through the whole ordeal. Just try to relax and you'll learn the basics in no time."

The dragons smiled and nodded at the girls, feeling a bit better after this.

"Okay, now, let's find that donuts place." Lyco smiled before looking at a nearby sign. "Mmm... Black Beauty Avenue... yes, according to Spike, the McGraw Lane isn't far from here. We just have to go left at Spirit Street and we'll be there."

The group continued walking, as Spike had already suggested them to avoid flying, both to orient themselves more easily (since, obviously, Spike was used to read the signs while walking, it would be easier to follow his directions if walking as well) and also to avoid scaring anypony that didn't know the dragons weren't looking for trouble, especially just after Discord went full Godzilla mode on the city; after all, even if the dragons were traveling with the Mobians, the girls were from predatory species, and they would be a bit intimidating as well. After a while, and despite getting a few fearful glances from some ponies, the group felt relatively comfortable, and most of the ponies stopped feeling nervous around them.

"Here it is." Nicole pointed at the donuts place, making emphasis on the sign. "See, guys? That's what a donut looks like."

"Mmm... a food that looks like a circle? And somebody already ate the center!" Shakes groaned. "Great, we're late."

The girls rolled their eyes yet smiled, and soon they all sat at a large table. The waiter, apparently used to dragons already, attended them without hesitation and with much more courtesy the dragons expected; obviously, she had attended Spike in the past. A few minutes later, she was serving them a large amount of assorted flavored donuts, with hot chocolate to pass them down.

"Mmm... well, they smell good." Fume commented while grabbing the first one, putting his claw through the hole. "And I see why they make a hole in them; it's easier to grab the thing."

"Now, try it." Lyco smiled at him. The dragon shrugged and started licking it slightly; a moment later, his eyes opened to the max and then ate it all, making delighted noises all the time.

"Mmmmm... guys, you have to eat this! It's like... a jewel, but much softer!"

The other dragons grinned and tried the donuts as well; a few moments later, they were as delighted as Fume. The girls giggled at this, finding it quite funny how their dates were loving the donuts as if they were eating world-class cuisine.

"Heh... imagine the face they're gonna make when they put sprinkles on them." Leeta whispered at Lyco, who laughed a bit at this before started eating as well.

Meanwhile, Spike and Sally were still trying to locate the Mind Stone. Even if Spike's staff was giving them an idea of the general location of the stone, it changed constantly, and only Sally's wolf-like nose was letting them advance in the search.

"This is too much." Sally groaned a bit. "This stone changes location every time we get close to it."

Spike, who was getting a bit frustrated as well, took a seat at one of the luxury couches around the room, and motioned Sally to sit next to him; she changed into an anthro wolf shape instead of the feral one she had been using the whole time.

"I know... this stone has some sort of sick sense of humor." Spike groaned while rubbing his temples. "Maybe we should take a break; my Power Stone keeps me from getting physically tired but my mind needs a recess."

"And so does my nose." Sally pointed at her wolfish muzzle before smiling at the dragon. "So... wanna chat for a while?"

"Sure. Uh... so... any new stuff happening at Ponyville?" Spike grinned at her. "How have you guys survived so far without me?"

"Barely." Sally sighed, with Spike noticing she wasn't exactly joking. "We really need you for all kinds of reasons, both emotional and practical. Just because we Mobians have thumbs doesn't mean we are as good helping Twilight at the library as you do."

"Heh... well, I've been Twi's assistant since I could remember." Spike chuckled.

"And speaking about memories, wanna tell me how you got those stones?" Sally pointed at the Infinity Staff.

"Oh, it hadn't been easy. You heard Adam; you need to get all the stones in a particular order so the next stone gets a bit easier to find or control." Spike explained while pointing at the Soul Stone. "This one is pretty much the only Stone you don't need a previous one to control or find... and of course, getting it wasn't easy because I had no powers besides my own abilities to find it and fight the ones protecting it."

"Who was protecting that stone?"

"Diamond Dogs. Dozens, and dozens, of Diamond Dogs. Whoa, too many D's." Spike rolled his eyes while Sally gasped. After all, the reason Spike had left Ponyville in the first place was how bad he felt precisely after being attacked by Diamond Dogs.

"And you weren't scared?"

"No... just a bit terrified." Spike chuckled a bit. "Adam had already trained me, and gave me the staff for protection, but still, I had no Infinity Stones to boost my abilities, and it was just yours truly versus a whole pack of Diamond Dogs. Adam himself told me I would stand no chance in a direct fight, at least not until getting the Soul Stone, so I had to enter their lair without getting captured, and I did great... until they found me and I almost got captured. After that, it was pretty much a race to get the Soul Stone before I became dog food, and, luckily, I got it on time." Spike now looked a lot more serious. "It felt... awful... the first time, I mean, the Soul Stone was trying to absorb both my spirit and the dogs', and as mean as they can be, I didn't want the dogs to suffer (more than necessary); luckily, Adam's training allowed me to control the stone's power. The dogs were so scared after the stone almost got them, that they were just terrified of me when they realized now I had the Stone under my control; I then ordered them to be better ponies... or dragons, or dogs, creatures, whatever... and stop stealing jewels."

"You showed them who's the alpha male." Sally grinned at this.

"Yep. And with the Soul Stone under my control, I could use its energy to track down the Power one when Adam took me to the next site."

"The dragons' home." Sally guessed while Spike nodded.

"Yep. And I think you already know that part." Spike grinned. "I'm glad you guys and gals got them to behave and even to reform... but I gave them a little 'reminder' so they don't act like thugs, beasts or jerks with the girls, or they'll get another taste of the Infinity Stones... among other painful stuff."

"It seems you're getting too knowledgeable on intimidation tactics, uh?" Sally chuckled. Spike smiled, enjoying the sound of her chuckling and looking at her smile.

"Heh... better to be a bit intimidating than actually needing to use the Stones." Spike shrugged. "And guess you don't wanna hear about how I got the Reality Stone since we already talked about that with the others, and you saw what happened with Discord."

"You think he can be reformed? I don't think it will be practical to imprison him for life." Sally commented.

"You're right... but who can reform a monster that is composed of several animals..." Spike paused. "Mmm... several animals at once... Remind me to suggest Princess Celestia to make Fluttershy reform Discord."

Sally nodded at this and, after a few more minutes of random chat, they went back to searching. After a while of doing this, Sally finally got an idea.

"I can stretch my body, right? Why don't you stay in the middle of the room while I search for the stone, and when you sense it changes position, you tell me, and I stretch my hands to grab it without moving from wherever I am?"

"That's... the best idea I've heard today." Spike grinned. "Okay, let's do it."

Again, Sally went back to sniffing around while Spike remained in the middle of the room. Then, by using his Infinity Staff, Spike sensed how the Mind Stone disappeared from the general direction Sally was searching, and reappearing the opposite side of the room.

"NOW!" Spike pointed at the right direction, and Sally, without moving from her current spot, stretched her arms full length, moving a couch and revealing the Mind Stone. The stone started glowing, ready to disappear again, when Spike changed his staff into a chain/whip weapon, and swung it at the stone, grabbing it right on time. Spike pulled the whip/chain back to his hands, and a second later the Mind Stone was in his possession.

"Congratulations, Spike!" Sally smiled while changing back to normal, but paused when noticing the stone's glow was now covering Spike's entire body.

"Sally... stay away... this is the part... where I take control of this power... and it's not easy!" Spike grunted while using the other stones' powers to prepare himself; the Soul and Reality Stones would allow him control the Mind one while the Power Stone would keep him strong while doing it.

Spike felt his mind expanding, very similarly as how he felt when feeling the Reality Stone the first time, but this time, instead of sensing different realities and possibilities at once, he felt hundreds of alternative thought processes. After a few moments, he realized these thoughts were coming from everypony in Canterlot.

"_SWEET CELESTIA... THESE THOUGHTS ARE... FROM PRINCESS CELESTIA... AND LUNA... OH, MY... HOW CAN THEY HOLD SO MANY MEMORIES? ARGH! TWILIGHT... SHE'S MUCH SMARTER THAN I THOUGHT... AAARGH! RAINBOW AND SONIC THINK SO FAST... IT'S TOO MUCH... AND PINKIE... SHE... UNGH... THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!" _Spike was feeling a monumental headache coming. "_I NEED... AN ANCHOR... A MIND THAT I CAN FOCUS IN... SALLY!"_

Spike immediately realized that Sally, being the closest mind around, would be the best solution; he could focus on her thoughts and memories while getting used to this power. Taking deep breaths, Spike felt himself entering Sally's memories... and the headache dissipated almost immediately.

"_Sally... you... you are so great... All these memories... these adventures... oh... this hurt you a lot, isn't it? But... here... another happy memory... Hey, that's me! I am in your mind. A lot." _Spike smiled while slowly going deeper into Sally's subconscious mind, seeing scenes of her teenage and childhood years.

"_He's your dad, uh, Sally? Seems to be a nice guy... you told me something very bad happened to him... what happened to him?" _Spike felt bad about intruding now, but he couldn't stop himself now. The dragon soon was watching some painful memories, related with the people Sally had lost in the past, and losing her father, King Acorn, was the most painful memory of them all. Spike almost cringed when looking at the king getting sucked into a portal; from Sally's memory, Spike learned this was The Void, and everything was Ivo Robotnik's fault. As Spike was pretty much fused with Sally's right now, he could feel all the despair, anger and frustration she experienced at that moment.

"_Sally... all this pain... I... want to ease it... maybe... healing your soul..." _

The Reality Stone, sensing Spike's subconscious mind, made him use the Soul Stone along with the Mind Stone, and he could sense her soul. This was the most beautiful sight Spike had ever seen; Sally wasn't just a beautiful, wonderful female on the outside, but also one with a wonderful, amazing, extremely beautiful soul.

"_You don't need me healing your soul. I can't repair something that's already close to perfect." _

Unknown to Spike, Sally had been feeling the effects of his 'mind and soul intruding'; at first she felt a bit defensive, but soon she felt a bit of Spike's feelings and how he literally touched her soul. Sally didn't remember the last time she felt such joy and peace at once.

Spike opened his eyes, smiling at an equally happy Sally, as the Mind Stone stopped glowing and occupied its right place in the Infinity Staff.

"We did it, Sally. The Mind Stone is under my control. Thanks." Spike held her hands and looked at her quite tenderly.

"You did it. I only came here for moral support." Sally gave him the same look.

"It was the right support for me." Spike then hugged her, and few moments later they kissed in a loving, passionate yet sweet manner, Adam looking at this from a distance and smiling at the scene.

"Well done, Spike. Well done." Adam thought out loud, grinning. "And getting the Mind Stone was good too."

The alicorn allowed the new couple to have some privacy, as Spike had earned this little 'recess' before going to find the next stone, the Time Stone.


	9. Invasion of the Changlings

Chapter 9 - Invasion of the Changelings

While Spike and Sally continued kissing, the Mobian girls were showing their powers to both the dragons and the curious ponies that couldn't help but stare at the weird-looking group.

"My device allows me to use several powers. Not more than one at a time, but if you are smart, you can use the same power in many creative ways." Fiona explained Puff. "For example, I can use this to do lots of things at once."

Fiona used her device to get her multi-cloning power; a few moments later, Puff was gasping at the sight of a dozen beautiful identical females surrounding him.

"Whoa... this is great! It's like... dating a dozen girls at once without cheating on any of them!"

The Fionas chuckled at this before tickling the dragon from several sides at once. The other couples grinned and laughed at the scene.

"_Hey, that's cool, isn't it?"_

Everyone stopped laughing when hearing Spike's voice.

"Spike?" Lyco asked while looking around.

"Hey, where are you hiding?" Garble groaned a bit. "Don't tell me one of those Stones can make you invisibile!"

"_Invisible."_

"Ah, so you admit it!" Garble growled softly.

"_I was correcting you. Anyway, I'm not there right now. I finally got the Mind Stone, with lots of help from Sally, of course... and well, one of the ways I can use this stone is to talk directly into your minds."_ Spike explained. "_Some of you have WAY TOO MUCH free space in there."_

"HEY!" All the dragons complained at once.

"_Great, guys, I wasn't saying names and now you all admitted it."_

The dragons face-palmed while the girls giggled.

"_Anyway, Sally, Adam and I are going back with the Princesses to get more information on the next Stone. You guys and gals continue enjoying the date. And Puff, you only eat the donut, not the napkin."_

Puff, who already had a napkin in his mouth, grinned at this and removed it. Once Spike's voice was no longer heard in their heads, they went back to eating.

A few minutes later, Spike was greeted by the Mane Six, along with the Princesses and Shining Armor, all of them congratulating him, while Sally and Adam looked at this from a few feet away.

"YOU REALLY CAN READ MINDS NOW, SPIKE?" Pinkie said in her usual excited tone. "READ MINE, READ MINE, READ..."

"Uh... Pinkie... I just gave your mind a quick read when I first got the Stone... and it's like trying to read a whole encyclopedia at once." Spike cooled her down. "Same with Twilight's mind, but at least with her I know how her encyclopedia's volumes are arranged."

"Very ironic you mention an encyclopedia, Spike." Luna advanced at the dragon. "The next Stone, the Time one, is hidden in the Star Swirl The Bearded Library."

"A library?" Spike arched an eyebrow before grinning. "Heh... now THAT'S a Stone I'd probably be able to find even without the training. All these years as Twi's assistant was training enough."

"Glad I can help." Twilight chuckled yet agreed with him. With the purple unicorn's love for studying, Spike had spent countless hours helping her with the books both at Canterlot's Academy and at Ponyville.

"Still, it's good you have the other Stones, Spike." Celestia explained. "As you know, each Stone has some protective measure. In this case, the Time Stone is protected by a series of riddles, all of them hidden at the Library, and the first one, the riddle that starts the whole search, can only be revealed if you have both the Mind and the Soul Stones."

"Okaaaay... so, when can I start?" Spike asked.

"I have the book with the first riddle." Cadence said, smiling. "It's an old spell book from Star Swirl The Bearded... but I have it at home, at the Crystal Empire. And, as you might imagine, it has some protective measures too. Nothing as extreme as the magical protections used for the Stones, of course, since, then again, you can't read the riddle unless you have the Mind and Soul Stones."

"We can send a message to our servants at the Crystal Empire so they can take out the book." Shining Armor proposed. "And then, one of our fastest ones can go get the book; either Rainbow or Sonic can do the trip in a short time."

"Usually I'd be the first one volunteering, but I wanna see the things Spike can do with the Staff, so... let's tell Sonic. I left him outside, trying some vegetarian chili dogs; you Canterlot ponies really have everything!" Rainbow chuckled.

"Then it's decided. I'll send the message; now, just need paper and..." Celestia stopped talking when noticing Spike was already in front of her with ink, paper and a feather, ready to start writing.

"Heh, what can I say? Some habits are die-hard... and it will be fun to write a note that doesn't start with 'Dear Princess Celestia', you know?" The dragon shrugged and, after everyone chuckled a bit at this, Celestia dictated him the note for Cadence and Shining Armor's servant; Spike then used his fire to send the message, feeling actually happy for doing this again. In the meantime, Rainbow had already gone outside to get Sonic, and by the time they returned, the message was already sent.

"Sure, I'll be back soon. I might not be familiar with Equestrian geography, but I can follow the train tracks to the Crystal Empire." Sonic grinned. After giving him some basic instructions, and a backpack so he could transport the very delicate and rare book, the blue hedgehog dashed away.

Unknown to them, a little brown bird had been watching and hearing the whole thing from a nearby window, and its eyes glowed green before flying away.

"Okay, while Sonic returns, can yah show us the things yah can do with the Stones, please?" Applejack asked the dragon.

"Sure, let's go outside." Spike smiled. "So, any trick you'd like to see first?"

"Yes, can you use the Reality Stone so I can get more control of my Pinkeen Sense? I have had this weird combo since Sonic left and I really want to know what it means." Pinkie asked him.

This was enough for the whole group to get alert. Everypony knew by now that Pinkie's sense, while unexplained in origin, was usually right.

"Okaaaay... yeah, guess I can use the Reality Stone for that." Spike took out his staff and transformed it into a glove; he put it on, and then placed his gloved claw/hand on Pinkie's head. A moment later, they both got covered by the Reality Stone's glow, while Spike used the Mind one to protect his brain from Pinkie's wacky one.

Spike and Pinkie, in their minds, found themselves witnessing hundreds of events at once; then, Spike used the Reality Stone to find the exact event that triggered the Pinkie Sense's reaction; the mysterious bird at the window. A closer look revealed its true nature.

Spike and Pinkie gasped and got out of their mutual trance. They both turned at the rest of the group; they had been in a trance for only a couple of minutes but it felt like hours for the dragon and pink pony.

"Guys, what..." Spike and Pinkie interrupted Twilight.

"**CALL PRINCESS CELESTIA, NOW!"**

The mysterious bird was now at the Canterlot's gardens, surrounded by several similar ones, all of them chirping at each other in conversation, until Celestia, Luna and Adam descended over them.

"You can drop your charade now." Celestia frowned at the largest bird. "Chrysalis."

The bird got a toothy grin, and then started growing until it was around Celestia's size, while growing pony-like legs and body, its birdy wings morphing into insect-like, and its eyes glowing evilly.

"Well, this time you were more alert than usual, uh, Celestia?" Chrysalis smirked. "Or maybe those Stones are more useful than I thought."

"You got tired of trying to impersonate Royal Family members, and now you are doing bird mimicry?" Adam growled at the Changeling Queen.

"It's amazing what you can learn when everypony thinks you're a little, cute bird." Chrysalis smirked. "And before you think I'll be an easy defeat, Celestia, let me tell you my Changelings and I have been feeding on Pony Love for several weeks now."

The Alicorns frowned while their horns glowed with magical energy, and the birds around Chrysalis started morphing into Alicorns as well.

"The three of us can handle a few imposters." Luna frowned.

"I know. Too bad for you I have several ones all over the city." Chrysalis smirked while sending a magical signal to the rest of the Changelings. As she said, all over Canterlot, several birds, squirrels and mice morphed into their natural Changeling shapes.

"And too bad for you we have our own defenders all over the city too." Celestia frowned before closing her eyes.

"_Spike, the entire city has been infiltrated by Changelings."_

"_Got it, Princess."_ Spike replied telepathically, the dragon standing on top of the tallest tower while the Mane Six, the Mobians and dragons (that Spike had contacted as well) moved all over Canterlot, all of them spotting Changelings when they revealed themselves.

"They have strength in numbers. We should too." Fiona frowned before using her multiplying power.

"_Good idea, Fiona." _Spike, who got Fiona's actions perfectly, grinned when this gave him an idea. "_Alright... Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy... get ready to meet your sisters!"_

Spike sent a magical blast from the Reality Stone, hitting the Mane Six... that soon became the Mane Sixty Six!

"Eleven of each one." Twilight grinned at her copies.

"Heh... once this is over, we can start our own soccer teams." Rainbow grinned at her copies as well before all the blue pegasi got her trademark smirk. "Alright, we became more than 200 percent cooler; time to show these Changelings what that means!"

The battle started and it extended all over the city. The Fluttershies intimidated large groups of Changelings with their stares, the effect multiplied by the large number of yellow pegasi doing it at once; the Rarities alternated between physical attacks and unicorn magic blasts; the Applejacks started a stampede, stomping on several Changelings while charging down the street; the Pinkies were pretty much driving the invaders crazy with multiple antics and tricks; the Rainbows became a group of multicolored missiles flying at top speed and hitting the Changelings before they even had time to try a counter; and the Twilights performed a variety of spells, including one that made the Changelings get stuck in a shape so they couldn't morph into larger animals to attack back. While all this happened, Spike was using his Mind Power to send quick images of the battles directly to Princess Celestia's mind, to keep her informed of everything; even if Spike obviously had improved himself greatly, even without the Stones, he knew Celestia's leadership and coordination skills would be much superior, especially in a massive battle scenario.

"You are very relaxed for someone whose forces are getting defeated." Celestia casually commented at Chrysalis, the alicorn princess noticing the changeling queen wasn't nearly as angry or upset as anypony in this situation.

"I'd be angry if defeating you was my only objective." Chrysalis growled softly while trying to attack Celestia again.

"_That's what I wanted to know. Spike, Chrysalis' plans usually have more than one objective. Try to check up her mind; if it's too hard, try with her soldiers."_ Celestia informed Spike while fighting back. The dragon gave her a mental nod and started scanning Chrysalis' mind; he soon realized it was pretty hard, due to Chrysalis' strong will and magical powers, so he decided to focus on a random changeling instead. The dragon gasped at the information he got.

"_Shining, this is Spike in your head!" _Spike sent a quick message to Shining Armor while jumping off the tower himself. "_This attack is mostly a distraction! They want the Stones, but they also want to release Discord!"_

As Spike said, a large group of Changelings were about to invade the prison tower where Discord was currently imprisoned; even if he was depowered now, Discord was still a creature with thousands of years of magical knowledge, that would be extremely dangerous in Chrysalis' possession.

The changelings started battling the prison guards, and were about to overpower them when Shining Armor and Cadence arrived. The unicorn captain then attacked the changelings with some quick magical blasts to get them away from the tower before summoning one of his defensive shields around the prison, with Cadence empowering him with her magic. The changelings started pounding on the shield, trying to weaken it.

"Sorry, guys, Discord isn't taking visits today." The changelings turned to see Spike, who had grown large scaly wings thanks to the Reality Stone, and was about to strike them from an aerial position. "Let me attend you instead."

The changelings, instinctively, changed into Spike's current form, but, obviously, they couldn't mimic the Stones' granted powers. Spike then attacked them with quick fireballs that exploded upon impact, knocking out several of the changelings. A pair of changelings tried attacking him from behind, but Spike used his Infinity Staff, extended to the length of a 'bo stick', to hit them both with a single roundhouse move. Spike then saw some of the changelings were taking deep breaths, and being dragons at the time, this obviously meant a fire attack; Spike immediately started spinning the Staff at high speed, thanks to the Power Stone, practically creating a tornado around him; this protected himself with the wind, plus sending the flames back at the changelings.

Spike, taking advantage of the changelings' current stunned and injured state, landed in front of them, getting himself between the attackers and the prison. The dragon then grinned and, remembering something Tails had commented him about something called 'video games', morphed himself into a mechanical shape, until he was basically a cyber dragon. The changelings finally reacted and charged at him, Spike resisting their attack without receiving a scratch thanks to his metallic skin, and started punching them away, making sure they'd all end together instead of disperse around him, as he was about to try another trick Tails had commented him. Spike started focusing a large energy sphere in his hands, using both the Power and Reality Stones for this.

"What did Tails call this thing... oh, right." Spike smirked and, when the sphere grew as large as his whole body, shot it at the changelings while yelling "HA-DOU-KEN!"

The large, white energy ball became a huge energy beam that shocked every single changeling around Spike, and sent them flying several feet away, all of them already unconscious before hitting the ground again.

"_Note to self; ask Tails the details of this 'video game' thing so we can make a few here. Heh, maybe 'Fighting is Magic'." _Spike thought before sending another mental message to Shining Armor. _"I'm gonna help with the rest of the fight. You keep the shield up, just in case."_

"_Got it. And great attack, Spike."_ Shining replied, getting a sly grin before getting back to verbal orders, directed at his soldiers. "I'll set off the shield for a moment so you can secure the changelings; they were too eager to get in here, so let's be nice hosts and receive them... as prisoners."

Spike grinned and used the Power Stone to mimic Sonic's speed, basically giving his legs the strength and speed necessary to move as fast as the blue hedgehog. A few moments later, he was at the battle site with the alicorns facing Chrysalis... and, since he wasn't used to move this quickly, Spike had to stop himself by using a few changelings as a brake.

"Heh, sorry; still, these guys are good for something." Spike grinned while looking at the changelings he had knocked out when trying to stop himself.

"You... You, Stupid, Little Pest..." Chrysalis growled at him.

"Oh, come on, can we cut the whole 'villainous rant' and get right to the part where you give up?" Spike rolled his eyes. "Really, I had enough of this with Discord, and I'm not in the mood to do it twice in the same day with you."

"He's right, Chrysalis." Adam grinned while advancing over two beaten changelings. "Most of your forces are already defeated, and the few that are still capable of fighting are outnumbered at least 50 to one."

Adam and Spike grinned at each other; obviously, Adam had made this calculation thanks to Spike giving him a few mental images of the battle besides the ones he had given Celestia.

"Then, I'll need to cut it down a bit... starting with you!" Chrysalis growled before morphing herself into a Manticore... that couldn't do anything; Celestia and Luna attacked her with a double magical blast, sending Chrysalis several yards away and impacting her through the closest wall.

"Infinity Stones or not, remind me to never make them angry." Spike whispered at a nodding Adam.

Chrysalis, partially recovered from the attack but still in pain, realized she stood no chance against 3 alicorns at once, especially with this overpowered dragon at their side and herself no longer having any help. The changeling queen then morphed into a peregrine falcon and tried to escape by flying.

"This one is mine." Spike grinned and, summoning his wings again, started chasing after the falcon.

Chrysalis started flying even faster, and when realizing Spike was about to catch her, she dived to make this a street-level chase. Spike then got an idea and sent another mental message.

Chrysalis was about to evade Spike by changing into a dove and trying to hide inside a house but then the dragons and their Mobian dates stood in her way, the dragons shooting large flames at her and almost making her a roast pigeon. Chrysalis then morphed into a cheetah to run away from them, gaining distance with ease... until Rainbow Dash and her many duplicates started surrounding her.

"Not so fast, Kitty Cat." The Rainbows chorused before attacking Chrysalis with a tornado, created by all the pegasi flying around her at high speed. Chrysalis was sent against another wall, morphing into a rhino to be strong enough to stand the hit but still resenting it. When touching the ground again, Chrysalis decided to change into a mouse, thinking that, being that small, she'd be able to hide and escape.

"MEOW!"

Chrysalis yelped in fear when looking at the feline face that popped in front of her... and got even more scared when realizing this wasn't a real cat, but one of the Pinkies wearing a mask. Behind this Pinkie, the rest of the pink ponies were holding mouse traps, nets, and a cage with... a real cat.

Chrysalis, fearing what would happen next, changed into a bird... and, due to fear, it wasn't even a quick, dangerous one, but a duck, and couldn't even use it to fly away as she found herself surrounded by all the Mobians (minus Lobo and Lupe, who were still 'busy' at their room, and Sonic, who was currently beating up the changelings that stood in his way), the dragons, and all the Mane Sixty-Six.

"You should morph into into a white flag now, you know?"

Chrysalis looked up to see a grinning Spike, using the Reality Stone to stand on thin air.

"You're depthspicable." Chrysalis groaned. "I hate to morph into this bird; I alwaypths get a lipthsp."

The changeling queen sighed and changed into her normal form, giving up.

"So, ready to go to jail... or a petting zoo?" One of the Pinkies joked.

"Ah, we'll decide that later. In the meantime..." Spike decided to copy one of Discord's theatrics and snapped his fingers, changing the Mane Sixty-Six back into just Six.

"Heh... that was cool; too bad we couldn't stay like that." Rainbow chuckled. "I was 600% more awesome!"

"Yeah, whatever. So, how are you gonna jail a creature that can morph into anything?" Chrysalis soon was regretting saying this, as Spike was taking a deep breath; a moment later, the Reality Stone allowed Spike to change his fire breath into freezing one, encasing Chrysalis in a thick block of ice.

"Now this is an ice cream I wouldn't like to taste." Garble chuckled.

"Well done, to all of you." Celestia arrived at that moment. "Now, we must secure all the changelings and..."

At that moment, some loud yelling/howling was heard all over Canterlot. Spike, using the Mind Stone, made a quick mind scan to find out what happened, and gasped.

"Uh, oh." Spike gulped a bit. "Chrysalis had an emergency plan in case this attack failed... several changelings that didn't come to Canterlot; that yelling came from the changelings we already defeated and that aren't unconscious like the others."

"A signal to attack." Celestia frowned and used her magic to make her own scan. A large number of changelings were heading to a nearby town, most surely to destroy it in revenge. "Basically, making us to pay for this defeat. Spike.."

"Got it." The dragon saluted and, after giving Sally a quick glance, he teleported to battle the remaining changelings.

The remaining invaders weren't as many as those attacking Canterlot, but they were visibly larger than most, even without morphing. Spike appeared in their path, right outside the town they were about to destroy.

"Alright, let's see if I can get creative here." Spike grinned and used the Reality Stone to change his outfit into a techno-suit of sorts, again, based on Tails' descriptions; it was easier this time since, thanks to the Mind Stone, he could give a quick glance to the young fox's memories.

The changelings then morphed into several beasts, from normal animals like bears and tigers, to supernatural ones like Timber Wolves and Manticores. They all charged at Spike at once, trying to surround the dragon.

Spike morphed his staff into a bright, techno disc, and threw it at the closest changeling, who had morphed into a panther, hitting it full force. The moment the disc hit the beast it separated into several smaller discs, all of them ricocheting and hitting the animals or, at least, forcing them to get defensive and cut their attack. Then, Spike made the discs to fly back at him and they all fused back into one large disc, morphing it into a battle baton he used to hit a bear's muzzle right when it was attacking him from behind. Spike roundhouse kicked two lions and then changed the baton into a light sword, cutting the poisonous sting off a giant scorpion before kicking the monster away. Spike's sword moves kept the rest of the attackers at bay, and then he changed it into a large staff that he spinned around him at high speed, not just hitting many beasts but creating a tornado-like wind around the dragon that blew the changelings away and made them change back to their normal forms.

"So, you guys give up, or you want me to REALLY get angry?" Spike smirked, realizing most of the changelings were unconscious now... but stopped when one of them morphed into an exact duplicate of Sally.

"S-Sally? I..." Spike shook his head and glared at the changeling. "How dare you copy her, you BUG?"

"So, this form 'bugs' you, Spike?" The changeling didn't just copy Sally's form, but also her voice. "I thought you'd like it."

Spike made a quick mind-reading, growling at what he found. This was one of Chrysalis' best soldiers, who didn't just copy a victim's looks but also his/her voice and mannerisms, pretty much like Chrysalis herself. Even more, the mind-reading revealed Chrysalis had planned this too, using the soldier to insult and/or attack anypony capable of stopping the invasion, just out of spite. The dragon wide-opened his eyes when realizing this soldier did his homework.

"You won't say it..." Spike gulped, especially when several of the town's ponies arrived to see the result of the battle.

"You want no witnesses, Spike?" The soldier grinned. "You don't want anypony knowing your secret?"

The soldier's voice was now getting louder, so everypony could hear him/her perfectly. Spike wanted to silence him/her, but he was just too shocked to act at the moment.

"You don't want them to know that their hero is nothing but a heart-broken, pathetic excuse for a lover who got rejected by a beautiful unicorn that liked a stallion prince more than him? And that you only became a hero so another girl way beyond your league would love you?"

This was just too much for Spike, who literally snapped at that moment. He froze every single changeling around minus the soldier; instead, he silenced him/her with a hard punch at dashing speed, so hard the changeling returned to its natural form immediately. At that moment, Spike stopped holding back and went pure animalistic fury on it, punching, biting and slashing the creature with such rage the town's ponies ran away in fear; when Spike realized this, it made him even more furious.

"YOU WANTED ME TO BE A MONSTER? **SO BE IT!**" Spike roared at the last phrase and then grabbed the changeling's horn with his bare hands/claws, and snapped it like a twig... right before he realized what he was doing.

Spike dropped the now unconscious, broken and barely alive changeling, and looked at his own hands in fear, dropping the horn a moment later.

"I... can't... I am not a monster... but... I acted like one..." Spike was glad he had subconsciously stopped himself from using the Stones against this changeling, relying only on his dragon capacities, but the pure animal fury and Adam's training still made him a dangerous opponent. Spike braced himself, now afraid of his dragon temper.

"Spike..."

The dragon gasped and turned to see Sonic right next to him, with Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia right behind the hedgehog. With a quick mind scan, Spike found out that they had arrived a few moments ago, just in time to see his dragon rage.

"I... I..." Spike didn't know if running, yelling or covering up would work in the situation he was in right now..

"Hey, Spike, calm down." Rainbow approached him. "You know we are here to help, right?"

"Y-yes, but... I... oh, look at the time; have to go. Bye!" Spike used the Power and Reality Stones to get back to his winged form and power up his wings to give himself some super fast flight. He was out of sight in no time.

"I can go after him." Rainbow and Sonic said at once, but Celestia stopped them.

"I know you have good intentions, but this is a very personal matter for Spike." The alicorn princess said in her usual motherly way. "Right now, we must attend this problem; the changelings must get jailed... and receive medical attention. Spike will get the right assistance."

Sonic and Rainbow, well aware of how they weren't the best option to attend sentimental problems, sighed and nodded at Celestia.

A while later, Spike was right outside of the Star Swirl The Bearded Library, looking back and forth from the library's entrance to his staff. The dragon sighed and looked down.

"_How am I gonna even try to do this?"_ Spike groaned while rubbing his head's sides. He then cringed a bit when Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence and Adam Warcolt approached him.

"Princess Celestia and the others already told you what happened, right?" Spike sighed.

"No, they didn't. They just said you needed some help now. Care to elaborate?" Adam asked him. Spike was tempted to keep silence, but he just couldn't say 'No' to Twilight's eyes; the eyes of a worried big sister.

The dragon told them the whole thing, from his battle with the changelings to the Fake Sally's speech, at times apparently getting physically hurt when mentioning some of the insults 'she' threw at him; of course, Spike didn't say out-loud that the changeling knew his 'secret', but it was pretty obvious by now, especially for this group.

"Oh, Spike." Cadence sighed and rubbed her head/muzzle on Spike's head, comforting him, while Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"Yeah... I know, it was a changeling and not the real Sally, but... what he... or she... it... whatever... the point is, the changeling was right. I'm a selfish, insecure and self-conscious little liar, and now it's more evident than ever, Sally will never see me as a friend again... and any other relationship, well, is OBVIOUSLY out of question. And Discord was right too! I'm nothing but a monster; I was raised like a pony, and because of that I doubt I'll ever fall for a female dragon... and any other girl won't see me as anything but what I really am; a greedy monster."

"Spike, you're not a monster. The ones who said this to you are the monsters; they realized they couldn't defeat you physically... at this point, I doubt any creature can... so they attacked your feelings; they knew that's the only pain you can feel now." Twilight sighed. "And no monster would have such nice, strong feelings as yourself."

"But... Twi, you see me like a little brother..."

"Exactly." Twilight interrupted him. "And I wouldn't be a monster's sister; I wouldn't have helped raise a monster; I wouldn't have shared long hours of study with a monster; I wouldn't have moved to Ponyville with a monster; and I wouldn't be here trying to comfort a monster."

Spike was about to say something when Shining moved next to him.

"And that makes you my surrogate little brother too, Spike. Monsters have no families; or, if they have, they don't care. And you have lots of friends and 'relatives' that care about you."

Spike looked down and got a very little smile.

"Thanks... guess you're right, but... still.. there's still the whole problem with..."

This time it was Adam who interrupted him.

"Yes, your feelings. Spike, feelings are a double edged sword; they make you strong, determined, compassionate and brave... but they're also fragile, and something your enemies can attack in order to hurt you. And in this case, you're also hurting yourself."

"Yes, Spike, he's right." Twilight agreed with Adam. Spike groaned at this.

"Twi, forgive me for saying this, but... really, what do you know about love and heartbreak; you've never fallen in love, all you've done is spent most of your life with your nose in a book."

Shining and Cadence were about to snap at Spike, but Twilight didn't let them. She wanted Spike to say everything.

"You don't know what it's like to fix a broken heart by yourself." Spike was now getting teary eyes. "You... I... Twilight... I'm sorry if I'm offending you, and I'll probably start hitting myself so hard that even the Power Stone won't stop the pain, but in this case, you don't know anything."

"I know, Spike... in this case, I only know that I don't know a thing." Twilight sighed. "But when we first moved to Ponyville, I also knew little to nothing about friendship; and most of what I already knew I learned from you. So... if an egghead bookworm like me could learn about friendship, then you, Little Brother, can learn how to deal with a broken heart, and I can learn how to comfort you no matter what."

"Of course you can learn." Spike sniffed a bit before giving her a warm smile. "After all, when has Twilight Sparkle ever failed?"

"Hmmm... Applejack teaching me how to bake apple pie?" Twilight half-joked. "The only one who ate that attempt-of-a-pie of mine were you, and you dragons can eat rocks; literally."

"Twi, those were the best steel-hard ashes I've ever eaten." Spike grinned at her. Now Adam, Cadence and Shining were chuckling while Twilight blushed, embarrassed, but still smiling.

"Heh, fine, I'm not a chef; sue me." Twilight rolled her eyes while she and Spike embraced. "Feeling better now, Spike?"

"Yeah, a bit." Spike admitted. "I know I still have to... solve my situation with Sally... but yeah, I feel much better now."

The dragon then turned at Adam, mentor and pupil nodding at each other.

"Time to get... Time." Spike grinned.

"You're not gonna start making time-themed puns, right?" Adam smirked at him.

"No, that's my job." Pinkie emerged from nowhere. "If you have any doubt, just stay and WATCH me."

"Heh, hi, Pinkie." Spike chuckled.

"Yep, I know, about TIME I arrived, uh?" Pinkie chuckled. "I wanted to say something too, but you needed a hug and a chat better than a joke and a party; so, I was just waiting for the right MOMENT to enter. My TIMING was perfect, uh?"

"Okay, Pinkie, you can stop now; it got really old, real fast." Adam smirked at the pink pony.

"Guess everypony is gonna SECOND you on that." Pinkie grinned. Adam sighed and rolled his eyes yet smiled.

"Okay, you better start working on the next Stone now... and I'll be waiting outside so Pinkie doesn't drive me crazy."

A second later, Pinkie was riding Adam, and holding a steering wheel, while making car noises.

The other ponies and Spike started laughing at this while Adam sighed again.

"Seriously, living with this pink mare should be enough to be considered a hero."

"IT'S HERO TIME!" Pinkie laughed. "Oh, wait, we're going on an adventure, so... IT'S ADVENTURE TIME!"

Twilight levitated Pinkie and carried her inside the library while Spike followed them.

"Let's get inside before Adam decides it's time to see a psychiatrist."


	10. Search for the Time Stone

Chapter 10 - Search for the Time Stone

Back at the palace, Lobo and Lupe walked out of their room, holding hands and smiling, and soon joined the others at the main's room.

"Hi, every-pony... heh, never gonna get used to that... Anyway, what did we miss?" Lobo asked them.

"Spike got the Mind Stone, we got invaded by Changelings, we kicked their flanks, Spike got all 'ferocious', readyand he spilled his feelings for..." Sonic stopped talking when Rainbow put a hoof on his mouth.

"Aaaaand... you guys had fun?" Rainbow grinned nervously at the wolf couple, both of them staring in disbelief until Celestia nodded at them, confirming Sonic's rant.

"Wow. We missed ALL that?" Lupe arched an eyebrow and rubbed her temples.

"Yes, you did." Garble grinned. "Seriously, how noisy can you wolves be when you..." Now he was the silenced one, as Nicole wrapped her fingers around the dragon's muzzle.

Lobo and Lupe blushed a bit at this.

"Don't feel bad about that." Celestia, containing her own laugh/smile, approached them. "I gave you that room precisely because it's very isolated and it's hard for anypony to hear anything coming from outside or inside the room."

"And besides, we handled most of the battle with little trouble." Maria pointed out; she and Daemon had done most of their contribution fighting the changelings at the city's outsides, where Daemon's weather control powers were more useful and caused less collateral damage.

"Thanks mostly to Spike." Fluttershy admitted. "He used his staff to clone all of us ponies to improvise a little army."

"And now he is with Pinkie, Twilight, Cadence, Shining Armor and Adam trying to find the Time Stone." Daemon added. "Then again, only Spike, Twilight and Pinkie are entering the library; the others are gonna wait outside as a back-up team."

"I would have liked to go too." Sally sighed. "But Princesses Celestia and Luna said this mission required only a small group, since Spike has to do most of it by himself anyway."

"And Pinkie Pie is the most useful pony at this point." Luna explained. "Star Swirl The Bearded was a very wise, smart magician, and he protected the Time Stone with riddles and traps that would be hard to solve even for himself... meaning he used a special logic that was very different from his own when devising the riddles."

"In other words, yah need to be a bit crazy and goofy to solve those riddles." Applejack chuckled. "That means Pinkie is overqualified.

Applejack's half-joke made everyone to laugh, even if Sally still wished she could be there helping Spike; not just to assist him in whatever they were doing, but also because she loved his company.

At the library, Twilight took out the book Sonic had retrieved from The Crystal Empire's library and handed it to Spike.

"Okay, here goes nothing." Spike paused. "And... how I'm gonna use the staff here? Just summoning the power and touching the book?"

"No idea myself." Twilight rubbed her chin. "Something that will help you read the hidden clue..."

"If you're gonna read, you should wear glasses." Pinkie giggled.

"Pinkie Pie, that's..." Spike stopped talking and then gasped. "Brilliant. Simply... brilliant."

Spike grabbed his staff and, instead of morphing it into a weapon, the dragon transformed it into a pair of glasses, with the Mind and Reality Stones serving as the lenses. When Spike put on the glasses and then looked at the book, he could see bright, magical numbers on the cover.

"It works! It says... Page 123..." Spike opened the book and searched for the page. "Here's the riddle... Mmm... _"A father gave money to his two sons; one got 10 cents of a bit, and the other 15 cents. What time is it?"_"

"Uh? That makes no sense." Twilight frowned.

"Oh, I got it!" Pinkie grinned. "Ten plus Fifteen is Twenty-Five. Twenty five cents of a bit is a quarter; so, the father gave a quarter for two."

"A quarter for two..." Twilight, wide-eyed, then got a big smile. "That's pretty clever, Pinkie. But... it sounds like a joke."

"Well, you say this Star Swirl guy was very serious, right? Maybe he had a little sense of humor, and a joke, for him, was like a very hard riddle." Pinkie shrugged.

"That's possible... oh, wait, there's another riddle here. Mmmm... '_What kind of animal would protect time?'_"

"Easy. A WATCH-dog." Pinkie chuckled a bit. Now Twilight was the one getting a little grin.

"And there's a very big clock in the middle of this library with animal decorations. I'm sure it has a dog too." Twilight then guided the group to the clock.

As the purple unicorn said, the clock was pretty big, and it was decorated with animal drawings/paintings. Spike found the dog and then looked at the clock's face.

"Okay... a quarter..." Spike used the Mind Stone to move the minutes' hand. "... for two..." and then moved the hours' hand. After doing this, the dragon touched the dog's drawing; almost instantly, the whole clock started glowing, and a secret door opened right under the dog.

"Yes! We found it!" Pinkie got excited.

"I think it's just the next clue, Pinkie." Spike told her.

"Yes! We almost find it!" Pinkie corrected herself.

The trio walked inside and Spike used his glasses again; this time, he saw the magical letters appearing on a wall.

"_At night they come without being fetched; and by day they are lost without being stolen_." The dragon read.

"I know that one; The Stars." Twilight smiled, glad she could contribute with the riddles.

"Great, Twi!" Spike smiled before looking at a second riddle. _"The beginning of eternity.. The end of time and space.. The beginning of every end, and the end of every place."_

"Okay... Oh, I got it! The Letter E!" Pinkie grinned.

"I know where to look; 'The Stars' is 'Astronomy'; the aisle of astronomical books. And we have to look at Section E." Twilight deduced.

"Excellent... wait, we have another riddle... mmm... how weird... the letters look bright red." Spike frowned. "_This is the time when you're about to get too late."_

The trio started thinking, and after a couple of seconds, Pinkie panicked.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Spike and Twilight barely had time to react as Pinkie, in one of her wacky displays, carried the both of them and ran out of the secret room using just her hind legs; she did it so quickly that the dragon and unicorn needed a few seconds to realize they were now outside the room.

"Pinkie, what was..." Twilight stopped talking when the room started glowing and the door closed; the unicorn then sensed a very powerful defensive spell coming from inside.

"I can feel it too." Spike used his new glasses to inspect the now hidden door. "Whoa... it's some sort of... time trap... if we had been inside, we'd be frozen in time for Celestia-knows-how-long. Pinkie, how did you know it?"

"The last riddle you read. When you're about to get too late? When you are RUNNING OUT OF TIME." Pinkie explained. "That's a last moment warning before activating this trap."

"Pinkie, if I ever again say you have a weird way of thinking... take it as a compliment." Twilight smiled at her friend.

"I always do that." Pinkie smiled back. Then, the trio went to search the next clue.

When they entered the Astronomy Aisle, Spike used his glasses on Section E. He soon found a glowing book, with magical numbers on the cover (indicating page 321), and opened it; again, the next riddle revealed itself.

"_Two bodies have I, though both joined in one; the more I stand still the faster I run. What am I?"_

"That one's easy; an hourglass." Pinkie guessed correctly.

"Mmm... no more clues in this book." Spike frowned.

"This library's windows have painted glass, right?" Pinkie commented. "Maybe we need to find the glass that has a clock, watch or something."

Spike and Twilight nodded, accepting it was a very strong possibility. After looking for a while, they found the right window; not only did it have a large watch in the middle, but the window itself was shaped as an hourglass. Again, Spike used his glasses, and, as expected, magical letters appeared on the window.

"_When the clock is broken, what time is it?"_

"Heh, this one is fun." Pinkie giggled and, out of nowhere, took out a slingshot, and used it to break the window with a large rock.

"PINKIE!" Twilight and Spike gasped at this.

"Hey, don't worry; Spike can use the Reality Stone to repair this. And that's the answer." Pinkie grinned. "When the clock is broken, what time is it? Well, it's time to fix it!"

Spike and Twilight looked at each other, and, realizing it was the most logical (even if still crazy and goofy) idea, the dragon used the Reality Stone on the window's broken shards, repairing it in no time. The moment the window was complete again, it started glowing, and this time, instead of magical letters, a spectral voice said the riddle out loud.

"_**This thing all things devours:**_

_**Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;**_

_**Gnaws iron, bites steel;**_

_**Grinds hard stones to meal;**_

_**Slays kings, ruins towns,**_

_**And beats high mountain down."**_

"You think that voice is..." Pinkie looked at Twilight after hearing the riddle.

"Yes... Star Swirl's voice." The unicorn nodded. Spike walked a step ahead and stared at the window.

"I know the answer to this one. It's... Time."

Two little light beams emerged from Spike's glasses, hitting the window's center, and then, slowly, a small, solid form started materializing in an orange glow.

"The Time Stone." Spike whispered as the light beams attracted the Time Stone towards himself. Pinkie and Twilight just stared at the scene.

"Go ahead, Spike." Twilight smiled at him.

"Yep. This party gift is all yours, and nopony else can open it." Pinkie nodded at the dragon.

Spike smiled at the two ponies and then grabbed the Time Stone with both hands. An orange flash blinded him for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, everything around Spike was literally frozen in time; Pinkie and Twilight looked like living statues, and the dragon could actually see small dust particles suspended right in front of him, nothing moving at all.

Spike walked to another window, and looked outside; by using the glasses, he could see the whole city at once, and realized everything was just like in the library. Everypony was frozen; a ball was hovering, immobile, after a kid threw it; the clouds, birds and flies were stuck on mid-air; and all the clocks around town were frozen as well, not making a noise or advancing at all.

"Whoa... I'm... how would Twilight analyze this... Oh, wait." Spike used his telepathy to read Twilight's mind; it was pretty hard since even Twilight's thoughts were immobile, but Spike eventually found the information he wanted. "I'm moving and living between seconds; an instant is like an hour from my point of view. But... what if..."

Spike started concentrating on the Time Stone, and then, the whole world started moving... much faster than usual. The dragon gasped when looking outside; everypony was moving so quickly they were like blurs.

"Whoa! It's like living in a world of Sonics and Rainbows!" Spike closed his eyes and focused all his energy on the Time Stone; soon, the orange glow covered his whole body, and the other stones' glows started covering the Time one.

"Time... Stone... it's time... for you... to behave... I control you... and I... will respect... your power..."

Finally, the orange glow disappeared and the stone was back to its inert form. The dragon smiled and placed it in the staff.

"Spike, what happened?" Twilight asked him, visibly worried.

"Yeah, one moment you were moving super quickly, and the next you were in slow motion!" Pinkie added.

"Guess that's how everything looked like from your point of view." Spike rubbed his chin and then grinned. "Don't worry, I think I already got the Time Stone to accept me as its new owner. And I already saw two ways to use it; de-accelerating things..."

Spike grabbed a nearby book, threw it up and then used the Time Stone to freeze it in time, the book staying in mid air, completely immobile. After Twilight and Pinkie looked at it for a moment, Spike made it move back, catching the book as it fell.

"... and accelerating them." Spike chuckled and then, surprising the ponies, made a dash that would make Sonic proud, moving around them at impossible speeds.

"Spike, that's amazing! You're running like..."

"I'm not running, Twi." Spike stopped. "I was walking."

"But the Time Stone accelerates you so much, that your walk is like... super speed for anypony watching you." Twilight correctly guessed before gasping. "You think you can travel back in time too?"

Spike grinned a bit and looked at the Time Stone, thinking about this.

"Uh... Twilight, maybe Spike can do that, but... messing with time is risky; remember what happened the last time you tried it." Pinkie pointed out. Both Spike and Twilight looked at the pink pony and sighed; if Pinkie was being the voice of reason, it definitely was a serious issue.

"Yes, you're right, Pinkie. I can mess up our present if I change our past." Spike nodded.

"Especially if you do big changes in the far past." Twilight added.

"Mmm... but... what would happen if you only travel a few minutes in the future or the past?" Pinkie asked.

"That wouldn't be that bad, I guess."

Everyone turned to see another Spike, grinning at them.

"You are..." Spike looked at his 'double'.

"I'm you, in about 30 seconds."

Spike grinned at this and started using the Time Stone again, focusing on a short travel. He disappeared after a few seconds, leaving... himself with the two mares.

"And here I am." Spike chuckled. "Guess short travels aren't dangerous."

"This is great!" Twilight smiled and hugged him. "Well done, Little Brother."

"Thanks to you, Big Sis." Spike hugged back. "And of course, thanks to you too, Pinkie."

"Hey, you know me. I do anything to make my friends happy." The pink pony giggled before hugging Spike and Twilight at once. "Let's go tell the others! They'll probably wanna party after seeing you with the Time Stone."

"Let me guess; it's Party Time." Spike grinned at this.

"Spike, almost any time is Party Time." Pinkie chuckled.

"Guys, guys, please, cool down." Twilight said in a serious tone yet still smiling. "No noise in the library."

Pinkie and Spike, playfully, covered their own mouths, and the trio started walking out of the library, eager to tell the news to Adam, Cadence and Shining before going with the others.

As all this happened, Celestia and Luna had started talking to the many ponies going to the palace; with Discord returning and the Changelings attacking in the same day, everypony in Canterlot was understandably nervous, so their leaders had to calm them down and explain what had happened, plus reassuring both emergencies had been properly dealt with.

"Thank You, Your Highness-es." Some of Canterlot's high class nobles and business ponies bowed respectfully at Luna and Celestia. While this happened, Blueblood was meeting with Rarity.

"Are you sure you're okay, My White Gem?" Blueblood asked, visibly concerned. "I heard you were fighting those Changelings and..."

"Your concern is quite touching and adorable, My Prince." Rarity smiled at him. "But remember, like a gem, I'm both precious and tough."

"Uh... guess we should give them some privacy." Fluttershy suggested her friends, all of them looking at Rarity and Blueblood's flirting.

"Yeah..." Garble was about to say something but stopped himself. "I was about to yell 'Get a room'... and I remembered we're at a palace with MANY rooms."

"Heh, they'd do just like you say." Shakes chuckled.

The group joined the princesses as they said good-bye to the last ponies and left Rarity and Blueblood alone.

"Hey, look, they're back." Sonic pointed out as Spike, Twilight, Pinkie, Cadence, Shining and Adam returned; funny enough, Spike had used the Reality Stone to make himself much bigger and grow a pair of wings, so he was carrying Twilight, Pinkie and Shining on his back while Cadence and Adam flew on their own at his sides.

"The wings fit you, Spike." Rainbow, grinning, flew in front of the dragon before he landed.

"Yeah... told you, the flying dragons are the best." Garble grinned, visibly impressed as well.

"Thanks, guys." Spike said while gently dropping his passengers on land. "And... here's the new stone."

Spike showed everypony the Time Stone, already set on his staff.

"Excellent... and, you already tested it?" Sally asked, trying to hide a little blush.

"In the words of Big Mac... E-Yep. Watch this." Spike used the 'accelerated speed' trick, moving around them, so fast, that only Sonic and Rainbow could follow his moves, and just barely.

"Whoa... that Stone makes you my twin or something?" Sonic chuckled.

"And more. I need some space now." Spike moved a few steps back and then used the Time Stone to age himself to his adult, giant form.

"Whoa... so, that's how Spike looks when getting greedy enough?" Maria asked, looking up in awe like everypony else.

"Mmm... I think I like him tall." Sally grinned before covering her mouth with both hands, mentally kicking herself.

"And back to youngster." Spike's adult voice was so loud and cavernous that many of his friends had to cover up their ears. Luckily, he de-aged himself a few moments later, getting back to his original form.

"Hey, now you can have a hundred birthdays a day!" Pinkie grinned. "Lots of parties!"

"Okay seriously, you need to keep that pony friend of yours under control." Fumes groaned.

"Fumes, trust me, after today, I wouldn't even dream about changing Pinkie Pie's mind. Not even for a single second." Spike grinned at him. "Seriously, without her help, I'd have needed weeks to find the stone. Maybe even more."

The group then looked back at Pinkie, who was now shrugging at them.

"I do my best. And it seems my best is good enough for some difficult stuff."

"Nopony doubts it, Pinkie Pie." Celestia smiled at her. At that moment, Spike noticed Rarity wasn't around.

"Hey, where's Rarity? I wanted to show this to everypony."

"Ah, she's inside the palace, with..." Applejack couldn't finish the phrase.

"Thanks, AJ; I'm seeing her now." Spike chuckled and used his accelerated speed to dash inside the palace.

"I don't think he's gonna like that scene." Twilight groaned a bit.

Spike changed back to normal speed when sensing Rarity's perfume; she was just around a corner.

"Hey, Rarity, look what..." The dragon stopped talking when seeing Rarity with Blueblood. They were still complimenting each other, flirting, and, after a few more seconds, started kissing and caressing.

"_Wonder if I can use the Mind Stone to give myself some amnesia."_ Spike groaned. He got back to 'accelerating time' so Rarity and Blueblood wouldn't notice him face-palming and sighing; Spike looked back at the couple that, from his point of view, were posing like statues, and about to kiss again.

Spike stood there for what seemed to be a couple of minutes, and then looked down, sighing again but also getting a little smile before looking back at the couple.

"I know you can't hear me now, but... Blueblood, you better treat her well, or I'll find some very creative ways to punish you with my Stones. That said... Congratulations." Spike then stared at Rarity. "Rarity... You will always be somepony very dear and important to me; and I'll always be at your side whenever you need a friend... a friend that wants nothing more than seeing you happy. Just like now." Spike smiled and gently caressed her cheek. "See you later, My Lady. "

Spike left immediately after this. Rarity and Blueblood didn't notice him at all, except for a slight air current caused by his accelerated moves, and a slight yet warm sensation on Rarity's cheek.

Once he was out of Rarity and Blueblood's sight range, Spike went back to his normal time's moving.

"You know, now you have the Time Stone, you could have used a couple of seconds to hear the rest of Applejack's message." Spike turned to see Twilight waiting for him.

"Yeah... I really need to learn how to use the Stones at full capacity." Spike sighed yet smiled warmly a moment later. "Rarity was quite happy."

"Yes. She is; and Blueblood is correcting himself for her sake. He's no longer a narcissistic jerk... or at least, not to the point you can't stand him." Twilight chuckled a bit before smiling at the dragon. "Will you be okay, Spike?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Spike nodded at her. "After all, if Rarity is happy, I'm happy for her. Guess I have to move on... and now I have the speed to REALLY move."

"_**Spike... He can really move... Spike...He's got an attitude!"**_ Pinkie popped from nowhere and started singing. "_**Spike... He's the fastest thing alive..."**_

"Uh, Pinkie, that's a nice song but... MAYBE it doesn't work for me." Spike stopped her. "Why don't you... change 'Spike' to 'Sonic' and see what happens?"

"Mmm... _**Sonic... He's the fastest thing alive..**_." The pink pony grinned at this. "Not bad. I'll work on the rest of the song. See you." Pinkie chuckled and started hopping away while Spike and Twilight just smiled and shook their heads.

"Usually, I'd say something among the lines of "You can live neither with her nor without her", but guess that, with Pinkie is "You can live without her but you never want to try that"." Twilight chuckled at this.

"You said it. Come on, let's get back with the others. I can already hear Pinkie singing the song's new version, Knuckles groaning, and Sonic asking for an encore." Spike chuckled.

"You got super hearing?"

"Nope; I'm using the Mind and Time Stones at once to see one minute into the future. By the way, watch your step."

"My st..." Twilight stopped herself before stepping on a crack on the floor that would have made her to trip slightly. "Very smart."

"I'm learning." Spike grinned as they went to join the others.


	11. Return To Where It Began

Chapter 11 - Return To Where It Began

After getting the Time Stone, it was... well, time... for Spike to find the next Stone. Celestia told him that the Space Stone was hidden in Ponyville, surprising everypony.

"Ponyville? For a supposedly small town, it has too much importance." Lobo commented.

"That's precisely why it works so well. It's small, so most villains would overlook it, while still having a significant importance." Celestia explained. "It's a 'focus' point for many mystical energies; that's also the origin of the Everfree Forest's magical creatures and plants."

"So, that's why we have manticores, flowers that play pranks on you, and half-chicken-half-reptile animals that turn you to stone living practically in our backyard?" Rainbow arched an eyebrow at this.

"And Pinkie Pie living in town." Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Aw, you think I'm as special as the Everfree Forest's monsters? Thanks!" Pinkie, giggling, hugged Rarity, who just sighed, smiled slightly and shook her head at this.

"Well, since we have to return to Ponyville now... where do we buy our train tickets?" Garble asked to nopony in particular.

"You're returning to Ponyville; the other dragons are visiting for the first time." Fumes reminded him.

"Well, about that... maybe I can use my Stones to transport all of us there." Spike commented.

"That's a good idea, Spike; however, you'd need precisely the Space Stone to teleport us." Adam informed him.

"Typical. Hmmm..." Spike then grinned. "How about, I use the Power Stone to make Twilight's magic powerful enough to teleport all of us?"

This idea was well received by everypony... and every other species... and Twilight was both excited and nervous. Usually, she could only teleport herself, and at times taking a small group with her; and she never teleported to a very long distance.

"Okay, let's go to the palace's yard so Twilight can have more space." Luna said to the group. They all started walking out of the palace, with Blue Blood walking next to Rarity, the couple exchanging sweet words to each other.

"Look at them." Spike, walking next to Twilight, used the Mind Stone to communicate with her. "It's not fair, Twilight, I loved her and she didn't even acknowledge me... I guess that Fire Ruby I gave her doesn't mean anything to her, I guess it's another trinket to her."

"Spike, that would be unfair to Rarity. You know she appreciates that gift, a lot; and not just because of its monetary value. The thing is... she loves you, but as a very dear friend." Twilight 'thought' back. "I don't approve on overusing your powers, Spike, but maybe you should use them to see what she thinks about you."

Spike nodded (in his mind) and used the Mind Stone to give Rarity's mind a very quick check-out; the dragon smiled when seeing her many beautiful thoughts; by using the Soul Stone as well, Spike confirmed what he always knew, that Rarity was beautiful on the inside, even more than her considerably gorgeous exterior. However, this also confirmed what Twilight told him; Rarity really loved him a lot, but it was the kind of love she had for her friends, or even for her little sister, Sweetie Belle. The dragon sighed a bit yet smiled; as much as it hurt to know Rarity would never love him back the way he did with her, he was happy knowing she still had many beautiful thoughts and feelings for him.

While this happened, the group was saying their 'good-byes' and 'see you later' to the Canterlot's residents. After Sally made a very formal yet still very friendly 'good-bye' with the Princesses, she walked next to Twilight, who was getting ready to perform her teleportation spell.

"Twilight..." Sally whispered at the unicorn. "You... you were 'talking' with Spike using telepathy, right?"

"How did you..."

"I've seen telepathy in action in the past." Sally admitted. "Anyway... I know that was a private thing and I don't wanna intrude, but... do you know if... Spike likes me? As in, romantically?"

Twilight, noticing the rest of the group was still saying 'bye', and Spike was focused on Rarity, smiled at Sally and whispered back at her.

"I'm no expert in romance, Sally... but I can tell when somepony is in love." The unicorn said. "And I think I can also tell the same when some other species feels the same. So, do you..."

"Yes." Sally sighed slightly. "I had been crushing on Spike ever since I first met him. Guess it's been a bit too obvious, uh?"

"Yes, it has. If Spike hadn't been away for such a long time to do his training with Adam, and start the Stones' search, he surely would have noticed by now too." Twilight smiled at her. "You should discuss this with him later, if he ever gets the courage to tell you how he feels."

"Okay, we're ready now." Adam and Spike approached Twilight, the alicorn doing the talking now. "Everypony... and Mobian, and dragon... get closer."

The group was now around Twilight and Spike; Cadence and Shining Armor had decided to join them to see how Spike found the last Stone, and also help him if necessary. The purple dragon placed his Staff on Twilight's horn, and started sending some energy from the Power Stone to her body. Twilight soon felt her own magical power increasing tenfold, and even more.

"I'm ready... here we go." Twilight's eyes were now glowing with powerful mystical energy. "Next stop... Ponyville."

The whole group got engulfed by a bright, magical, purple light , and a second later, they had disappeared. Almost immediately, they reappeared in Ponyville.

"Whoa... talk about instant delivery!" Tails gasped, surprised at this display of power.

"Yeah... hey, Spike, think you can energize me too?" Rainbow grinned at him. "Maybe I'd fly fast enough to do a Double Sonic Rainboom."

"Somehow... Ah doubt that would be a good idea." Applejack rolled her eyes.

"So, where are you gonna find the new stone?" Shakes asked Spike.

"The Space Stone got buried down here in Ponyville ages ago. It wouldn't surprise me if it's under a house." Spike shrugged while starting to use his staff to search for the Space Stone's energy signal.

"Or under a tree." Fluttershy, timidly, suggested.

"Or under a rock." Knuckles added.

"Or... _Under the seaaaaa! Under the seaaaaa!"_ Pinkie started singing, holding a pair of 'maracas'.

"Searching now; Colt-ribbean Music later." Rainbow stopped the pink pony.

"And the stone is..." Spike finally got the energy signal. "... right under... there!"

Everyone turned at the direction the purple dragon was signaling; Ponyville's library.

"The library?" Rarity gasped.

"Spike and I had been living right over the Space Stone all this time?" Twilight groaned.

"Didn't see that one coming." Applejack shrugged.

"Yep. Another unexpected twist." Tails grinned.

**Dun-Dun-Dun!**

Everyone turned to see Pinkie Pie with a piano, playing 'suspense music'.

"Heh. Sorry." Pinkie giggled.

"Okay... where did that crazy mare get a piano from?" Garble groaned.

"She keeps lots of stuff hidden around Ponyville for later use." Rarity explained to him, sighing. "Don't make me elaborate. We have problems figuring her out anyway."

The group entered the library... and Spike used the Reality Stone to make the entrance a bit bigger, since the door was barely big enough for Daemon and Adam, and now the group had grown in size, both in number of members and the height of some integrants.

"Well, since the library was built over the Space Stone, we'll have go to the basement." Twilight suggested.

"Good idea..." Applejack opened the door to the basement, and little fireball dashed out of it, tackling Spike. Those who didn't know what was going on gasped at this, but soon were chuckling just like the others.

"Okay, Pee Wee, I missed you too." Spike giggled while the little phoenix rubbed his body on the dragon's chest and chin, tickling him.

"A phoenix... Wait, that bird came from the egg that..." Garble wide opened his eyes while Rarity and Twilight nodded at him. "Oh."

"What?" The other dragons looked up at their leader.

"The phoenix's nest we attacked? The night we first met Spike? The egg he saved?" Garble groaned at them. The other dragons just stared at him, not getting it yet.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake... Pee Wee is the baby phoenix that came out of that egg Spike saved!" Rainbow snapped at them. "No offense, guys, but guess this explains why you dragons can eat diamonds; your heads are even harder!"

Garble and his gang looked down, a bit ashamed by both their ignorance and the realization of all the little birds they had destroyed before hatching all these years.

"Okay, harsh feelings aside, let's handle the Space Stone issue now." Adam suggested.

"Well, the stairways are too small for all of us to go down... maybe I can make a bigger, second entrance?" Spike, now petting Pee Wee, told Adam.

"Not necessary, Spike. This is the last part of your quest; you have all the other Stones now, and you've mastered their powers, at least enough to help yourself in a tight spot, so you can search for the Space Stone on your own. The rest of us will stay here, and ready to help you just in case." Adam instructed him.

"But I'm still going with him." Twilight's tone showed she wasn't letting anypony (or other species) tell otherwise. "My house. My basement. My little brother who also helped me when Princess Celestia sent me to find the Crystal Heart and defeat King Sombra."

"In other words, it's your duty as well." Adam nodded at the purple unicorn. "Okay, Twilight, go ahead. Besides, Spike might still need your magical knowledge."

Spike nodded in agreement and went to give Pee Wee to Fluttershy so she could take care of him in the meantime... but the little phoenix just flew back to Spike's hands right after the yellow pegasus got him.

"I don't think he wants to let you go without him, Spike." Fluttershy told him. "He missed his 'daddy'."

"Heh. Well, why not? I'm already going with my sister, so this is gonna be a family trip." Spike chuckled while caressing the little bird.

"Alright then, let's go." Twilight smiled, nodded at her big brother and sister-in-law before doing the same with her friends, and she started leading Spike and Pee Wee downstairs; the purple dragon did as Twilight, giving Sally a particularly fond smile, before going after the unicorn.

As the trio went downstairs, Adam and Shining Armor used their own magic to project a defensive shield so, in case the Space Stone was protected by something dangerous, it wouldn't get out of the house.

"Something dangerous?" Shakes gulped a bit.

"Well, so far the Stones had been protected by Diamond Dogs, you dragons, magical protections..." Adam was interrupted by Rarity.

"Okay, we get it now." The unicorn sighed. "Let's hope Spike, Twilight and little Pee Wee can handle themselves."

"Rarity, Spike and Twilight practically stopped King Sombra on their own without any magical stone to help them." Rainbow grinned. "Now that Spike is supercharged and two thousand percent more awesome, and Twilight has much more powerful magic than before, I doubt anything can actually hurt them."

Sally just gave a big, worried stare at the basement's door, hoping Rainbow was right.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike moved all of the unicorn's scientific equipment she kept at the basement, so it wouldn't be in the way. The dragon detected the portal right in the middle of the basement, and realized that, even with the Stones he already had, opening this entrance wouldn't be easy.

"Okay... I guess I can use the Reality Stone to open the portal... but I don't know if I can keep it open." Spike groaned. "If we go to another dimension, the physical and magical laws in that 'reality' might be completely different."

"Wow. You impress me, Spike." Twilight commented. "That's a very accurate analysis."

"Hey, hanging around with you, anypony (or dragon) becomes smarts by osmosis." Spike chuckled. "Heh, I even know what 'osmosis' means."

"And I know how to help you." Twilight grinned. "The teleportation spell works by bending my own space and time for a few moments. If I use that spell combined with your Reality and Time powers..."

"Now you're the one impressing me." Spike grinned. "Okay, let's do this."

Twilight started summoning the magical energy necessary for teleportation, and Spike redirected it to the portal's area, combining it with the Reality and Time Stones' energies. When the purple unicorn 'triggered' the spell, Spike opened quite a big portal right in the basement's floor.

"Alright! Let's go." Spike chuckled while Pee Wee stood on his shoulder, and the dragon and Twilight jumped inside the portal, that disappeared almost instantly.

The dimension they had landed seemed to have no visible ground, as they just floated around. Twilight then looked up and saw what seemed to be a large ceiling... and then saw how Pee Wee, who had started flying around when they entered the dimension, stood on the ceiling, upside down.

"It seems Pee Wee is using this floating-around-stuff to stick himself to the ceiling." Spike commented while approaching the little phoenix.

"Or maybe, since we're looking for the 'Space' Stone, that ceiling can be used as a floor or ground." Twilight deduced. A moment later, she and Spike 'landed' a bit too roughly on the 'ceiling', and when they looked 'down', they realized the whole ceiling now seemed to work as the ground, and the area they had been floating was now the 'up' part.

"Okaaaay... definitely, space doesn't work normally here." Spike groaned and, when looking at Twilight, she now seemed to be half a mile away. "Twi, why did you go that far?"

"Far? I'm next to you!" Now the unicorn was precisely in front of the dragon. "Hey, where's..."

They heard Pee Wee's chirping now, and the little bird was so far away from them, they almost lost sight of him. Spike and Twilight started running towards him, but they didn't seem to advance an inch... and when Pee Wee saw them, he joined the pair in a couple of seconds.

"This is ridiculous." Twilight groaned while Spike petted Pee Wee. "It's almost like the time we went to the Crystal Empire and..."

"Yeah... this works a lot like the stairway trap King Sombra set in the palace." Spike frowned a bit before using his staff to locate the Space Stone. "Mmm... the Space Stone is that way... and seems to be several miles away."

"Spike, in this dimension, one mile can be the same as one inch." Twilight pointed out. "Don't try to reach the stone physically... Use your mind!"

"Literally." Spike grinned and used the Mind Stone; a moment later, his 'mind self' was crossing the enormous area between the Space Stone and himself. A couple seconds later, Spike, still focusing his mental energy, extended his hand... and the Space Stone, that a minute ago seemed to be so far away it would take several days to reach it, was now right in front of his fingertips.

"Mind and Time can go beyond Space." Spike smiled and, after getting a little nod from Twilight and Pee Wee, touched the Space Stone. As before, the stone's magical energy covered him with a bright glow; in this case, the glow was purple. Spike could feel how his whole self was now connected to the whole space around them; every inch of terrain and apparently non-existent limbo. He could feel Twilight and Pee Wee, and the area their bodies were covering. And he also felt...

"Somepony is here... and it's coming..."

The ground started shaking, and, a moment later, it disappeared, with such violence Spike dropped the Space Stone, as he wasn't in full control of its power yet. Twilight used her magic to stabilize herself while Spike (via his instant makeshift wings) and Pee Wee started flying, to keep themselves in place.

"Okay, guess we found the Space Stone's obstacle!" Twilight groaned.

"No, the other Stones' obstacles stopped working the moment I grabbed them! This is different. Something's trying to steal it for its own, but who?" Spike extended his hand to try getting the Space Stone again, but a dark, gigantic figure stood in his way.

"I'm more than a simple 'something', Little Dragon."

Pee Wee paled a bit when hearing this unknown, scary voice, while Twilight and Spike got defensive stances.

"Who are you and why are you stealing the Space Stone?" Spike growled.

"I guess it's hard to distinguish me considering that, in this dimension, space and size can be deceiving." The dark figure moved a bit, and seemed to shrink a bit, until getting the same size of a large alicorn. Spike and Twilight now paled as much as Pee Wee.

"KING SOMBRA?" The duo chorused.

"That's my 'pony' name. I've been known with several names in many dimensions." The evil, dark alicorn glared at the duo. "Did Celestia ever tell you how I became King Sombra?"

"Yes... you searched for forbidden, dark magic that corrupted you." Twilight growled.

"A magic that turned me into an interdimensional creature. And in order to adapt myself to any dimension I'd be connected when using this magic... I fused myself with the essence of a creature that has 'shapeshifting' as its primal nature."

"A changeling... You're a unicorn and changeling hybrid!" Spike deduced.

"A power I got thanks to a certain Queen you two are very familiar with." King Sombra smirked evilly at them. 'Chrysalis helped me become the most dangerous unicorn in Equestria; one so dangerous that even Princesses Celestia and Luna feared enough to exile me with magic; a creature that is a king of his own right. I'm The Changeling King!"

The villain then grabbed the Space Stone with one of his hooves, that morphed into a large claw.

"And when you and the Crystal Ponies destroyed my physical form, my spirit became trapped here again, where I've been searching for the Space Stone... but the only way to do it is with the correct use of the Mind and Reality Stones. Thanks for helping me, Dragon; guess this compensates for your contribution at my previous defeat."

"That defeat you suffered was very well deserved, Your Highness; if we allowed you to return to the Crystal Empire, you'd enslaved the Crystal ponies like you did last time, before Celestia and Luna sealed you in the Ice of the Frozen North." Spike growled before using the Reality and Power Stones. "Which reminds me... You hate cold!"

Spike then used the Stones to change his normal fire breath into a freezing one, breathing a large blizzard-like blast against The Changeling King, but the large villain just laughed at him. Spike, Twilight and Pee Wee gasped when realizing the freezing attack was now apparently moving at slow motion.

"I have the Space Stone, remember? An inch and a mile can be the same; your attack has to cover an infinite distance to touch me!" The villain glared at Spike. "Or I can change it's direction."

Spike barely had time to use the Reality and Power Stones to project an energy field around his companions and himself, as the freezing attack hit them back.

"Great! I can't even touch him!" Spike growled.

"_This dimension... Sombra, or Changeling, or whatever..." _Twilight communicated mentally with Spike. _"Spike, you are the Infinite Stones' legitimate master. He's using this dimension's energies to get control of the Space Stone. If we return to our own dimension, his powers will get diminished."_

"_Good idea." _Spike replied mentally, and then, concentrating a bit, sent a mental command to the Space Stone. Even if he couldn't get full control of it, he had touched the Space Stone long enough to establish a little link between them.

"And now I will destroy..." The Changeling King didn't end his phrase, as the Space Stone opened a portal behind them. "No! What are you..."

"TWILIGHT, TELEPORTATION SPELL, NOW!" Spike yelled. The unicorn lost no time to engulf her companions, herself, and the villain in her teleporting energies, and a moment later, they got into the portal and back to Ponyville.

At the library, Adam felt a cold, nasty sensation running down his back; at the same time, Pinkie Pie got into one of her 'combos', and it was a very serious one.

"Uh, oh. Something very bad is coming?" Sonic asked the pink pony.

"Yes... and it's very unexpected... my Pinkie Sense can't tell exactly what it is." Pinkie explained.

"And it must be quite powerful and of magical nature, because I can feel it too." Adam added; Shining and Cadence cringed a bit, feeling the same sensation in a lower grade.

"Well, it can't be worse than the Changelings Attack." Fumes shrugged; a moment later, both Lyco and Leeta covered his mouth.

"Don't tempt fate!" The twins chorused.

"Too late!" Fluttershy, who was the closest to a window, gulped when seeing the portal opening outside the library, and then everypony saw the huge changeling-unicorn creature falling out from it, followed by Spike, Twilight and Pee Wee.

"What is that thing?" Knuckles gasped/growled.

"King Sombra! Ah'd recognize that monster anywhere!" Applejack finally recognized the villain, while Cadence and Shining deactivated their defense shield so they all could get out of the library.

"I don't know how you got back, Sombra, but we're gonna crash you again!" Rainbow Dash, being her usual self, charged at KS the moment she was out, and Sonic was soon right at her side.

"Crashing things; I like how you think." Sonic grinned. The super fast duo was about to connect a double impact on Sombra when they disappeared and, when reappearing, they were on the way to connect the attack on Knuckles and Daemon; the blue speedsters couldn't stop on time, and hit their friends with such force they almost knocked them out.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Knuckles groaned.

"I... what... how'd this happened?" Sonic gasped as he and Rainbow tried to figure out what was going on.

"He has the Space Stone!" Twilight informed the group as she moved in front of them, keeping a defensive position. "Teleportation, distance manipulation, change of directions... he can control it all! Don`t attack him or he'll turn the attacks against you!"

"Twilight is right." Adam growled while flying ahead, glaring at King Sombra. "He knows exactly how to use this Stone; he had studied its properties since forever."

"Oh, I see you hadn't forgotten about me, Adam." King Sombra grinned at him. "Oh, and I'm now the Changeling King; you can't have too many titles, you know?"

"You know Sombra? Why I'm not surprised..." Spike rolled his eyes while getting a defensive stance as well. "Let me guess; you helped Princesses Celestia and Luna to defeat him the first time."

"No; they didn't let me do it. They knew how much I'd hate to fight my brother." Adam continued while still glaring at Sombra.

"Your brother?" Practically everyone chorused at this.

"Hold it." Pinkie took out a glass of water, took a sip, and then spit it out. "YOUR BROTHER?"

"Yes; Drake Warcolt." Adam frowned. "He got corrupted by Chrysalis magic... or, more precisely, he was already corrupt; Chrysalis just finished the work and gave him the abilities to master his own dark magic to full extent."

"And you didn't move a hoof to stop our dear 'aunties' from vanishing me, Adam." Sombra growled while growing even more.

"Drake, you became a tyrant, and did things that make any other villain's deeds to pale in comparison. You pretty much destroyed the Crystal Ponies! You crushed their spirits and did all kind of atrocities to them! It took a thousand years to clean up your mess." Adam snapped at his brother.

"Aw, my dear brother; always cleaning up my messes. I think you deserve a vacation, Adam." Sombra's eyes now glowed an intense purple and red light. "How about a weekend in the sun? LITERALLY."

Sombra started using the Space Stone's energies to teleport Adam, but Spike protected his mentor by using the Reality and Mind Stones to deflect the Space`s power back at the villain. Sombra was mostly unaffected since, after all, he was the one controlling the teleporting effect, but he soon realized he wouldn't be able to teleport Adam.

"Smart. But you won't be able to stop me forever, Dragon." Sombra grinned.

"Why not? After all, I have all the 'Time' I need. Get 'real'." Spike grinned at Sombra and then, using the Reality and Time Stones, Spike morphed himself into his older, teen, muscular winged self, and then changed his body armor as well, getting back the technological one he had previously used against the Changelings. Sally blushed when giving him a good look.

"Not bad; you might have more raw power than me, but I have the experience on my side." Sombra smirked and then used the Space Stone to punch Spike; due to Sombra's manipulation of distances, he only needed to move his fist a bit to hit Spike, regardless of how close or far he was. However, thanks to Spike having the Power Stone, the punch didn't hurt him that much even if now Sombra was as big as an adult dragon.

"My turn." Spike shot several energy balls at Sombra, and charged them with the Time and Reality powers so they could cover the distance in a few moments regardless of Sombra's manipulations of space; Sombra could still use it to dodge and avoid most of the impact, but now that they were out of the other dimension, the villain no longer could use the Space Stone at full power, limiting his own attacks as well.

"They need space to fight." Twilight said and then raised a hoof when Pinkie opened her mouth. "Not talking about the stone now, Pinkie."

"Twilight is right! We need to evacuate town or somepony can get hurt." Tails added.

"I'm on it." Pinkie took out a megaphone. **"EVERYPONY, GET OUT OF TOWN!"**

"Loud but effective." Lobo groaned while rubbing his ears; luckily, Pinkie's noisy warning worked perfectly, and all the villagers started evacuating.

Spike, meanwhile, was summoning energy shields to protect himself from Sombra's own magical blasts. The dragon noticed Pee Wee was trying to attack as well, with little to no effect.

"Pee Wee, you can't hurt this guy!" Spike groaned but then grinned. "Wait... you can, if I give you a hand."

Spike used the Time and Power Stones on Pee Wee, and soon changed him into an adult, much-stronger-than-usual phoenix. Pee Wee covered himself in high intensity flames and charged again at Sombra; the light and heat were so intense that Sombra had to cover his eyes, getting distracted by this attack.

"Perfect!" Spike used this momentary weakness moment to strike Sombra with an energy blast, thanks to the Power Stone, making the villain to drop the Space Stone. Pee Wee caught the Stone in mid air, and brought it to Spike.

"**NO!"** Sombra roared in anger when realizing he no longer had the Stone.

"You're an adult, Drakey. Get over it." Spike smirked at the villain while holding the Space Stone; the dragon smiled at Pee Wee, thanking him, and then concentrated on the Stone, soon getting covered in its purple glow as he started controlling it.

"You know what will happen once Spike masters this Stone, right, Drakey?" Adam grinned at a very furious King Sombra. "Heh, I like how that sounds."

"This isn't over yet." Sombra growled and then, before Spike could use all the Stones against him, the dark villain morphed into his huge, dark mist form, and extended himself all over Ponyville.

Daemon, who had been helping Rainbow and Fluttershy coordinate the evacuation by flying over the crowd, realized this was a power he could counter; the wolf archangel summoned a mighty wind, and soon dissipated all the mist. His own magical powers made him realize, however, that Sombra was no longer around.

"This was a distraction." Adam frowned. "He is surely very far away by now."

"But next time we face Sombra..." Spike grinned, approaching his mentor, and covered in a white glow, "... we are ready to defeat him."

Adam looked at Spike, and got a proud smile. The white glow only appeared when all the Stones' energies were working at once, and in perfect harmony; Spike had finally mastered them all.

"Well done, Spike... but we don't need to defeat him." Adam then got serious. "We need to do what we couldn't a thousand years ago. My brother is sick; we need to heal him."

"I couldn't agree with you more, besides I sense that you've missed him for some time."

"He's family." Adam shrugged. "Missing him is on the job's description."

Spike smiled and then morphed himself and Pee Wee back to their normal selves; they'd need to talk with their own relatives now before trying to heal Adam's.


	12. Journey to the Hive of the Changelings

Chapter 12 - Journey to the Hive of the Changelings

After Sombra disappeared, Spike used the Reality and Power Stones to repair the damage he and the villain had caused to the town during their battle. Afterwards, everypony started discussing what to do next.

"Well, Sombra is already defeated. He can't give us any more trouble, right?" Rainbow asked to nopony in particular.

"Sombra is a very dangerous villain, Rainbow. Remember, last time we only could stop him because we had the Crystal Heart, his one true weakness... and we can't go to the Crystal Empire and get it to... wherever Sombra escaped. Too risky." Twilight commented.

"He's surely back to the hive." Adam frowned, getting everypony's attention. "Changelings live in hive-like communities, with a dominant queen, as it happens with bees and wasps... but now that Chrysalis is gone, my brother will step up on the job. Not to mention he'll either plan how to get Chrysalis back, or find a substitute."

"So, he's still a threat." Sonic grinned. "Let's go get the guy."

"Not that easy, Sonic; King Sombra is Adam's brother... I can't use the Infinity Stones against him without feeling guilty, I mean, I can't just turn him into stone or imprison him in another dimension..." Spike groaned. "And I don't know if the 'sealing spell' can work on him... I mean, Sombra's powers aren't the same as Discord's."

"Well, uh... maybe you can heal the guy." Fluttershy offered, in her usual meek voice. "I mean... Chrysalis corrupted him, right? What happened to him isn't that different to what the Alicorn Amulet did to Trixie, remember?"

"That's a good point." Rarity added. "As much as we hate King Sombra (sorry to say this, Adam), it seems he's a victim too."

Adam and Spike looked at each other and nodded.

"I think that can work... My aunts couldn't heal him the first time because he was getting too powerful too fast, and they had to stop him quickly... plus they didn't have the Infinity Stones at hoof's reach." Adam pondered out loud. "I guess Spike already dominates the Stones' powers to the point of being capable of healing my brother... but we still need a way to stop him in case that doesn't work."

"How about using a Crystal Heart?" Pinkie giggled.

"Pinkie, we already said we can't get the Crystal Heart out of the Crystal Empire..." Applejack rolled her eyes but Pinkie interrupted her.

"I didn't say 'THE' Crystal Heart. I said 'A' Crystal Heart. As in, making another one."

"Pinkie, the Crystal Heart is a very special magical antique that isn't easy to replicate..." Shining Armor started explaining until Pinkie pointed at Cadence's cutie mark.

"But we have a model here that Spike can copy." The party pony grinned. Before anypony else could object, Spike wide opened his eyes and dashed in front of Cadence's flank.

"Okay... Pinkie, of all the crazy ideas of yours that might work... this might qualify as one of the best." The dragon grinned.

"If I can help you, go ahead." Cadence smiled at Spike while the others grinned at the idea.

"Okay, everypony, and other creatures, stand back." Spike chuckled while getting ready to use the Stones.

The dragon got serious and started focusing all his energy on making a new Crystal Heart; by using the Reality Stone, he managed to create a tridimensional image of Cadence's cutie mark, and then combined it with the Power Stone's energy to make it solid. Combining the energy of all the other Stones, the Crystal Heart soon started glowing just like the original one whenever its magic was at work.

"And... it's done." Spike smiled while holding the heart. "Cadence's special magic is love-related, just like the original Crystal Heart's; I increased and 'crystalized' that magic to empower the heart, and I even added a bit of the Soul and Mind's magic. If we can't heal King Sombra, I can use this to defeat him... or maybe depower him enough to perform an effective healing spell."

"Perfect. So, where's this hive?" Knuckles asked.

"I know the way... but there's a special alarm spell on it that will detect us if we approach it by the usual methods, like running or flying... even teleporting." Adam frowned. "The best way would be to go underground for at least the first part of the journey, to avoid some of the hive's protective spells."

"Okay, let's do it." Everypony turned to see Pinkie Pie wearing a miner's helmet and a shovel. "I just hope we don't make the wrong turn in Alhorsequerque."

"Thanks for the enthusiasm, Pinkie... but... I think there are other ways." Now Sally was the one grinning. "The Diamond Dogs have tunnels that cover a good portion of Equestria's underground, right?"

Spike, the Mobians and the other ponies grinned at the idea, but Garble and his group groaned at this.

"What? It's a better option we have right now." Spike said to the dragons.

"Yeah, if you don't mind using those... ugh... mutts' holes." Fumes frowned.

"Nothing against you guys, of course." Puff said to the Mobians, realizing many of them were canines, just like the Diamond Dogs, so they would probably get offended. "It's just that we would rather not get even close to those... things."

"Gee, too much xenophobia in the air or what?" Spike rolled his eyes; he noticed the other dragons didn't get it. "It means, 'hating other species or races', guys."

"You didn't know that Dragons and Diamond Dogs have been at war with each other, did you?" Garble narrowed his eyes.

"I'm a Baby Dragon who's been raised by ponies all his life and only knows how to act like a pony, what'd you expect I know, Snaggletooth?" Spike snarked as Garble covered his mouth and the other dragons laughed themselves stupid.

"Alright, that's enough of that, ya bunch of hyenas." Garble yelled, ordering his gang to stop laughing at him. "Fine, Spike, we get it now. The thing is, Diamond Dogs and Dragons... we don't get along; at all. We dragons eat jewels, and they love collecting jewels, so we steal gems from each other every chance we get."

"Okay, that makes sense." Rarity pointed out. "Still, I think you guys should be the ones going with Spike on this mission; as you pointed out, Garble, your kind is used to stealing from the Diamond Dogs, so you are familiar with their tunnels and know how to orient ourselves underground. Besides, many of us can't use our abilities to full extent inside the tunnels."

"That's a good point." Daemon added. "I can't even extend my wings in there... and that would be a problem for pegasi too. And Knuckles can't use his super strength inside a tunnel without causing an accident."

Garble sighed and nodded; he realized they were right and, as much as he hated the idea of getting inside a Diamond Dogs' tunnel, he also knew he was very well suited for this job, so now it was his and the other dragons' turn to help, just like Pinkie and Twilight's abilities had made them the perfect choice to assist Spike at the Library.

"Then, besides Spike, Pee Wee and the other dragons, who else is going to the Diamond Dogs' territory?" Rainbow asked, a bit upset about the fact she wouldn't be that useful in this mission due to being mostly underground, where her flying skills were not that useful.

"It's a family issue too, so I must go as well." Adam pointed out.

"And once the group arrives at the hive, it will surely be some melee battle." Lupe added. "That means the melee fighters have to go too."

"That would be me, the elastic powered ones, Lobo, and maybe one or two ponies too." Fiona proposed. Pee Wee then placed himself on top of Spike's head, volunteering himself to go with his 'dad' again.

"Okay, count me in." Applejack nodded at the others.

"And as much as I hate dirt... I have experience dealing with Diamond Dogs, and I know my way through the tunnels." Rarity added, volunteering herself as well. The others nodded in agreement, knowing that Applejack and Rarity were quite adept at physical fighting, to the point Rarity usually didn't rely on her unicorn magic when battling but on martial arts skills.

Soon, the group was ready to go. Everypony went to the Diamond Dogs' territory and Rarity used her magic to detect nearby gems, meaning the Diamond Dogs' wouldn't be far. They soon found a tunnel entrance, and the dragons used their claws to enlarge it. Those who weren't going underground gave their 'see you later' to the ones going; the ones not going would still be on alert in case they were needed later. After all, once knowing the exact location, Sonic and Rainbow Dash would arrive at the hive in a few minutes.

Now in the tunnels, Adam and Rarity used their unicorn magic to provide some light, and they marched ahead of the group, since Rarity was the one leading the group and Adam volunteered to be next to her at all times to provide protection if necessary. Applejack was the one protecting the group's rear, so Spike, the Mobians and the other dragons were walking in the middle; despite the dragons being alert at all times to detect any approaching Diamond Dog, it wasn't easy to stay silent through the whole journey, so they started talking among themselves.

"So... Sally..." Spike took a few deep breaths while touching his backpack with his tail, "... eh... you... do you like... well... presents?"

"That's a bit of an... unusual question, Spike." Sally arched an eyebrow but smiled. "But yes, I think everyone, pony or otherwise, likes a nice present once in awhile... but I don't know if this is a good moment for this conversation."

"Yeah, I know... and this present in particular... maybe bringing it to a Diamond Dogs-related mission isn't that smart, but..." Spike used his Reality and Space Stones to teleport something from the backpack to his hands. "I've had this for some time now... and I want you to have it."

Sally wide opened her eyes when seeing the beautiful Glacier Sapphire. The rest of the group (minus Adam and Rarity, who were paying attention to the frontlines) gasped at the sight; of course, the dragons also started salivating and their bellies started making noises.

"Yummy..." Garble and company grinned while looking at the huge, beautiful gem.

"Spike... I... this is a wonderful present... I... I don't know what to say..." Sally finally accepted the Sapphire as Spike handed it to her.

"It's a beautiful jewel for a girl that is worth all the jewels in the world, and more." Spike blushed a bit at this. "Before knowing you... I thought only Rarity would be worthy of a present like this... You proved me wrong, Sally."

Sally blushed and her heart started beating faster and louder than usual. She knew the backstory of Rarity and Spike's relationship, and how much he had loved the white unicorn. With this present, and his words, Spike wasn't just giving Sally a token of affection; it was his way to show Sally that he loved her as much as he had loved Rarity, and that he was willing to make huge sacrifices for her; in fact, due to dragons' appetite for jewelry, and their usual greedy instincts, giving away a gem like this was like the ultimate proof of love and compromise.

"That's so nice!" Leeta smiled at the scene.

"Yeah... that gem looks so delicious..." Shakes grinned.

"Shakes, we don't eat gems, remember?" Lyco explained to him and the other dragons. "But we like them as... presents. Just like the Diamond Dogs, we girls love jewelry. And a gem this big is something we only get from VERY special... people, ponies, dragons or whatever that want to prove how much they care for us."

"Mmm... yeah... I see." Garble rubbed his chin. "Giving away a jewel like that one... You only do it if the one getting the jewel is far more important for you than any jewel."

Rarity, who had finally noticed the conversation (mostly because of the repeated use of the words 'gem' and 'jewel'), gave a discreet glance at the Glacier Sapphire before, again, paying attention to the tunnel. The white unicorn smiled at this; she would have loved to receive a gem like that one, but knowing that Spike had found a female to love, to the point he considered her worthy of the ultimate token of affection he could give, even sacrificing a delicious food in the process, made Rarity quite happy, as this proved that Spike was finally moving on, and they could continue being friends without any awkwardness or guilty feelings.

The other dragons, on a rare display of empathy, had started thinking about this too. It was no surprise that they had developed very strong feelings for their female companions, and, after seeing Spike giving away the Sapphire, they were thinking about doing the same. The trick, of course, would be finding equally good gems without 'repeating' Spike's... then again, Glacier Sapphires weren't easy to find anyway. The dragons made mental notes about finding some great jewels to give as presents after completing this mission.

"Everypony hold on." Rarity stopped walking, the unicorn getting defensive immediately.

"What's going on, Rarity?" Fiona asked her.

"I sense jewels; they're moving, and coming this way." Rarity frowned.

"But jewels can't move by themselves." Leeta added, puzzled.

"Yeah, they can, if Diamond Dogs wear them on their collars." Rarity explained. The whole group went on high alert, as they all remembered Rarity was right, and many of the Diamond Dogs wore jewels instead of dog tags. Now the canines in the group growled a bit as they could hear and smell the Diamond Dogs coming, and, as expected, soon several ones emerged from the nearby tunnels plus a few dogs came out of tunnels they dug right at the moment.

"Alright, let's see what we have..." The leading dog gasped when looking at Spike. "No... not you again..."

"No-no-no-no-no..." Another dog shook his head and then started hitting his own head against the closest wall. "Not again-not again-not again..."

"Friends of yours?" Fiona grinned at Spike.

"Eh... more or less." The purple dragon shrugged before looking back at the dogs. "Hi, guys. We're just using your tunnels for a moment. We'll be out of here in a few minutes..."

"Hey, hold on!" The leader growled again, apparently forgetting about whatever fear he had for Spike. "You can't just get through our home as if you owned the place!"

"Yeah, I mean, do we enter your territory to do whatever we want with your things?" Another dog snapped. Spike just rolled his eyes at his companions.

"Uh... okay, guys, chorus in One... Two..."

"**YEAH, YOU DO!"** Spike and his friends chorused at the Diamond Dogs.

"O...kaaaay... you got us there." The leader groaned. "Still, we're not letting you enter our place uninvited!"

"Not our fault you didn't leave a mail address so we could send you a letter beforehand to ask for permission." Spike smirked at the dog.

"And besides, you have no mailbox." Rarity followed with the 'joke' at the dogs' expenses.

"Well, Rarity, considerin' nopony but dogs live down here, Ah doubt any mailmare would take this route." Applejack grinned.

"That's a very offensive stereotype..." The leader dog started arguing back when Sally pointed behind him.

"Mailmare!"

"WHERE?" All the dogs started looking around, getting embarrassed grins when realizing the princess had tricked them. They felt a bit less embarrassed when realizing most of Garble's gang was doing the same.

"Uh, where's that mailmare you are talking about?" Puff asked to nopony in particular. Garble, who had (eventually) realized this was a trick/joke from Sally, face-palmed and then gave him a slight shoulder slap. "Oh. I am making a fool out of myself?"

"Yep; and you're not the only one." Garble groaned.

"Okay, seriously, can you guys let us pass through your tunnels?" Adam got back to business.

"Hey, you expect us to forget that a bunch of dragons are invading our territory?" The leading dog growled. "Maybe we can ignore the ponies... and those who look like us dogs aren't that bad... in fact, the females are good looking..."

Garble and his gang got immediately closer to their beloved ones, and Lobo made a point of his state as Lupe's mate being more than evident.

"... but the dragons? Ugh. These guys... we Diamond Dogs can't stand them."

"The feeling is... uh... eh..." Garble stopped arguing and then whispered at Nicole. "When the two sides feel the same, what do you call that?"

"Mutual." Nicole whispered back.

"Thanks." Garble now got back his normal volume. "The feeling is mutual! We dragons can't stand you mutts. You fleabags always steal our jewels."

"**And you dragons eat ours!**" Now several Diamond Dogs chorused back at Garble.

"Because we eat jewels! You only use the jewels as... well..." Shakes now was the one getting stuck, not knowing the right word.

"Ornaments." Rarity ended the phrase for him before looking at the Dogs. "We ponies also use the jewels as ornaments, but stealing the gems is a crime, no matter the species. Now, how about we discuss this like civilized beings..."

Rarity gave the Diamond Dogs a second look.

"... as hard as that might be for you... Okay, the point is, we can solve this issue through dialogue and good will. You Dogs know by now that there's no use in fighting us, especially with Spike on our side."

The Diamond Dogs gave her a blank stare.

"He's Spike." Sally, rolling her eyes, pointed at the purple dragon.

The Diamond Dogs gave a collective 'Aaaaah' at the realization.

"Still, we can't let you invade our territory without at least trying to stop you." The leader continued. "It's like... a rule of ours, or something like that."

"Well, at least they don't have the rule of 'smelling a stranger's tail when first meeting'." Lyco whispered at Amy.

"Okay... if you really need to fight us... how about, you fight me?" Spike pointed at himself. Pee Wee then landed on his shoulder and frowned at the dogs. "Okay, you fight us, Pee Wee and I. He wants to participate."

"Hey, not fair!" Another Dog groaned. "You are gonna use that weird stone on us again, and hurt us so much you'll make us wet our beds for days!"

"**THAT WAS PRIVATE!**" Manyof the Dogs snapped at the one revealing this information.

"Nobody could take you out for a walk? I'm sure there are a few trees out there." Amy grinned at the now very embarrassed canines.

"Okay, look... I promise I won't use that stone in particular. I'll just enhance my abilities a bit to make it a fair match; same with Pee Wee's skills." Spike cleared out.

The Diamond Dogs decided it was fair enough. Since they couldn't battle in the tunnels without risking an accident, the canines took the group to a large cavern, with Spike's friends and the non-fighting dogs seeing the whole thing from one of the cave's superior levels, while the battling would be done at the bottom of the cave, making it a pit-fight of sorts. Garble and his gang had to make an effort to ignore some jewels they saw around the cave; Rarity and Spike had the same problem but, due to much better self control, they could focus on the task at hand with little problems.

"Hmm... I don't wanna go too far. Besides, if I turn into a giant dragon, I might destroy this cave by accident." Spike commented at Pee Wee as they took their place at one side of the cavern. "I guess just making me a muscular, moderately sized knight-like guy will be enough."

Spike used the Power and Reality Stones to shape himself as the muscular, handsome, tough-looking knight he had once dreamed himself to be, precisely to face the Diamond Dogs; for his outfit, he went for a light body armor, with a large, circular red and silver shield; he added a dragon symbol in the shield's center, with the Infinity Stones forming a circle around it; plus, he added a weapon-like device on his other wrist, with Spike using the Stones to make Pee Wee get a malleable form that fitted perfectly inside it.

"Hmmm... Spike really looks good in ANY shape he gets." Sally thought out loud. Her female friends, hearing this, grinned a bit, while the guys just chuckled and commented how lucky Spike was.

The Diamond Dogs, on the other hand, had selected a moderately big pack to face Spike in battle. The leaders, who would be among the fighters, made all his companions to wear some strong body armor, as they'd need a strong protection against the purple dragon.

"Hey, why are you using a... is that a weapon?" A random dog asked Spike.

"Yes, it is. I'm using it so I don't need to use my normal dragon weaponry, like my claws, my jaws and, of course, my fire breath. Remember I'm gonna limit myself to fight on your level, but I'm not gonna make myself completely defenseless either." Spike's explanation was apparently enough for the dog, and soon the pack was taking positions to start the battle.

"So, what's the signal to start fighting?" Spike, already in a battle position, asked the dogs' leader.

"CHARGE!" The leader growled/barked, and instantly the pack charged at Spike from every single angle around him.

"I should have known!" Spike dodged one of the dogs' jaws and replied with a shield-hit to his head, sending the dog against the canine that was right behind it. Then, Spike rolled on the ground to avoid another attack, and then threw the shield like a frisbee, starting a ricocheting action as the shield went from one dog to another, hitting several ones until it passed next to Spike and the purple dragon caught it in mid air, using it immediately to protect himself from another dog's claws while kicking him away.

"Whoa! Who knew you could use a shield that way?" Fumes gasped at the scene. Not surprisingly, most of the Mobians said 'We did'; considering many of them were Mobian warrior wolves, used to fight with all kinds of classic weaponry, they all had used shields as both defensive and offensive devices, even if they would admit Spike's shield seemed to be perfectly suited for these long-range attacks. Sally guessed that Spike's connection to the Infinity Stones was among the reasons the shield could move the way he wanted, since the Stones were part of the shield, and Spike had shown the capacity to control them even when not touching them or the Infinity Staff.

After battling the dogs this way for a couple of minutes, Spike made a ramming attack, placing the shield in front of himself and making a dash, hitting and pushing away all the dogs on his way. Once Spike was no longer surrounded, he used his connection to the Mind Stone to tell Pee Wee (via telepathy) that he was about to fire him; the little phoenix was more than eager to participate.

Spike aimed the weapon at some attacking dogs, and fired Pee Wee, who instantly got covered in flames, and started hitting the Diamond Dogs with such force that even their armors were giving them very little protection. One dog tried to catch the fire bird in mid air, but right when he was about to hit Pee Wee, the little phoenix exploded, sending the attacker against a nearby wall. Pee Wee continued flying, undamaged, and exploding every few seconds; these explosions weren't as powerful as the first one but still enough to stun and blind the dogs for a moment, time that Spike used to continue attacking them with hand-to-hand and throwing-shield combos. After a minute or so, Pee Wee changed to his normal shape and flew back at Spike, who used the Reality Stone's power to change the phoenix back to the semi-liquid state and the little bird flew back inside the weapon. Spike continued hitting the dogs until getting another clear area for him to move, and repeated Pee Wee's ammo attack, with similar results, until Pee Wee gained some altitude and then made a diving attack at a group of dogs, hitting them with what seemed to be a mix of a fireball and a thunderstrike that knocked them out.

"I think it's enough. Good job, Pee Wee." Spike smiled while morphing Pee Wee back to normal and caressing him. The purple dragon then looked back at the dogs; or more precisely, those that were waking up. "How about you guys? I think we should finish this now."

"This... doesn't end.. until... I say it..." The leader dog stood up but then fell on his butt, groaning at the impact. "Okay. I say it ends now."

Spike nodded at this and then used the Power and Reality Stones to heal the dogs; at least enough to make them stand up mostly uninjured.

"Just to show there are no harsh feelings." Spike grinned and morphed back to his own normal shape. "Now, before we leave... can we have some guides to lead us out of here? Your tunnels are several miles long, and they form a labyrinth; with someone guiding us, we'll be out of here much faster."

The leader sighed and called three of his most trustworthy pack members... who happened to be the three dogs Spike knew the best.

"Yep, I saw this coming." Spike rolled his eyes.

"Please, please, please, Fearless Leader, don't send us with him." One of the dogs whimpered while the other two were now on their knees, begging at their leader.

"Yes, we still have nightmares about this dragon!" Another of the dogs cried.

"Gee, in this place, I'm as popular as the fleas." Spike groaned. He was used to be underestimated in the past, before starting his journey, but being feared and despised was something new he didn't enjoy that much either.

"I'm the pack's leader, and that means you are gonna obey me; if I say 'wag your tails', your only reply must be 'how fast?', remember it now?" The leader literally barked at the trio. The dogs sighed and nodded at this, realizing they had no way out of this situation.

"Fine, let's go." The trio's shortest dog turned at Spike. "Just... don't... touch us, please."

"I feel sooooo loved." Spike frowned yet nodded, and, after saying 'Bye' to the leader, the dragon and his group were back on the tunnels, with the trio guiding them.

"Great... we're guiding the dragon that messes with us, the unicorn that started our ruin, and a bunch of others. After this, I'm gonna quit and become a lap dog." One of the dogs groaned at this.

"You, a lap dog? No offense, but you are too ugly to be a lap dog." Amy grinned at the canine.

"Hey, it works for the pugs." The dog replied.

"Anyway, exactly, where are you going? We're approaching the main tunnels, and we chose the right one from there." The smartest of the trio (of course, it wasn't that hard to be smarter than the other two) talked to Lobo. Being a canine as well, the dog felt more comfortable talking to him more than to Spike, Rarity, or any other dragon/pony.

"To the Changelings' Hive. We're in a rescue/elimination mission... depending on the results." Lobo explained him.

"The Changelings... are you guys suicidal or what?" Another dog gasped at this. "That's one of Equestria's most dangerous places; only place worse than that, that I can think..."

"Not that he thinks that much." Rarity whispered at Applejack.

"... would be inside a volcano." The dog continued, ignoring the unicorn.

"Hey, volcanoes are nice." Garble argued. "And I think you dogs like them too. After all, we dragons make our homes at volcanic places, and you always try getting inside our caves to steal our jewels."

"You dragons steal our jewels too, so it's fair game!" Another dog snapped at Garble.

"But you dogs started it." Puff sided with Garble.

"But it wasn't our fault; it was the Changelings' fault!" The third dog growled.

"Hold yahr horses. Yah are saying the Changelings make yah dogs steal jewels?" Applejack asked a question every non-Diamond Dog in the group wanted to make.

"No, they don't make us steal jewels, but it's because of their fault that we have to steal the jewels." The smart dog answered. "You see, we Diamond Dogs didn't use to live underground; originally, we only used these tunnels and caves to search for jewels, but our original house was an area in the Everfree Forest... precisely where this tunnel leads, actually. It's right half-way into Changelings' territory."

"Inside the Changelings' territory... Oh. I get it now. They kicked you out." Adam guessed. Being a long living alicorn, he actually remembered not all Diamond Dogs lived underground several centuries ago.

"Yes; they literally kicked the dog. And we are the dogs." Another of the dogs groaned.

"Of course we defended ourselves, but the Changelings were too many, and some had very strong magic, so they defeated our ancestors and forced us to abandon our original home. According to our elders, this place is filled up with these huge rocks with jewelry stuffed inside." The smart dog continued. "And we Diamond Dogs don't eat jewels like you dragons, or use it as an expensive thing like you ponies do, but we NEED to have jewels; it's an instinct of ours. We also use the jewels to decorate our homes and as 'dog tags'. We feel incomplete if not having a jewel in our collars."

"And because of that, we try to steal jewels from the dragons, since they store them in caves, and since we live underground, the caves are pretty much part of our territory." The shortest dog added. "And of course, you dragons try to steal our jewels too because you guys eat them."

"And it becomes a never-ending cycle." Sally concluded. "Maybe you dragons and dogs should come to a truce or agreement of sorts."

"No offense, Princess, but most of the Diamond Dogs and Dragons' meetings have very few words, and lots of fire, and claws, and teeth, and kitchen sinks..." Garble noticed those that weren't Diamond Dogs or dragons, and Spike, were now staring at him. "What? We hit each other with whatever we can hold."

"As I always say to Twilight when she makes a report... That's a bit too much information." Spike rolled his eyes but then had an idea. "Mmm... but, what if you dogs finally can return to your original home?"

"I don't think the Changelings would want us back. And about paying rent, well, who wants a Changeling as a landlord?" The smartest dog groaned.

"I know, but if this mission works, we'll finally get the Changelings under control. Or at least weaken them enough so they don't need such a big territory." Lyco pointed out. "Under those conditions, you Dogs can return to your home, and you'll no longer need to battle the dragons."

Now the Diamond Dogs and dragons got very thoughtful expressions; something EXTREMELY rare in both species... and stayed like this for a very long time, as the group continued advancing through the tunnels.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake; this isn't a multiple options' question. Just say 'Yes' or 'No', please." Applejack groaned. "Or 'Yeah', or 'E-yep', or 'E-nope' or whatever yah like."

"Fine, we get it; hold your relatives." Garble groaned yet nodded. "I get what you mean, but you know we dragons have no... official leaders or something like that. We don't have a government, or a Queen, King, or any other bed-themed ruler like you ponies."

"Well, can't make promises here either." The smart dog replied. "I'm the leader of this mini-group, and we are in charge of a small section of the largest pack, but I'm not the pack's leader."

"Good point." Adam commented. "Still, Garble, you can talk to the other dragons, and you dogs can talk to your leaders as well, so both species can come to an agreement."

"Besides, if the Diamond Dogs move to their original territory, and they and the dragons stop stealing from each other, the truce will come naturally." Sally continued. "No more reasons to fight equal to no more feuds."

"Fair enough." The smart dog and Garble chorused.

A few minutes later, the group finally reached the end of the tunnel. As the dogs said, it was a large clearing in the middle of Everfree Forest, but with some huge rocks spread around the terrain. Rarity gasped a bit as her horn started glowing.

"This place is like... an open space's mine. Many of these rocks must be stuffed with jewelry." Rarity had to make an effort to stop herself from cracking the rocks herself. The elastic powered ones also had to make a little effort to control the dragons, who almost dashed around the place to do what Rarity was thinking the moment the white unicorn mentioned it.

"Hold yahr horses... or dragons or dogs." Applejack got a little authoritarian tone to control the dragons. "Remember we're on a mission here. Besides, we just agreed that any jewel in this place will be for the dogs."

"Oh... right." Puff groaned while he and the other dragons cooled down a bit.

"Well, still, if you guys open a few rocks for us right now, you know, as a payment for bringing you here and also as a... eh... what's the expression..." The smart dog scratched his head in deep thought.

"A goodwill gesture." Rarity ended the phrase. Spike decided it was a good idea, and, after Rarity pointed out which rock had the most stuffing, Spike opened it up with his bare hands, as if the large boulder was just a big nut.

The purple dragon gulped and salivated a bit when looking at the very impressive jewels inside the rock, not just because of how many they were, but also because a few of these were quite rare gems too. Rarity, the dogs and dragons noticed this too, and they all got a bit too excited.

"The precious... the precious..." The shortest dog grinned while caressing a shiny emerald he had immediately retrieved from the rock.

"Gee, you and your jewel better get a room." Amy rolled her eyes... and then wide opened them when the dog started looking around. "Uh, you know, I was only kidding."

"Well... I... think this is a good payment." The smart dog grinned at the large jewelry display. "Mmm... guess now I have to... give you a goodwill gesture too, so... each dragon can get a gem. Oh, and also the white pony, since she selected the rock."

Rarity, after thanking the dogs, selected a large bluish diamond with a little imperfection on the inside; looking at it against the light, the imperfection had the shape of a cat's shadow.

"I'll call this... The Blue Feline."

The dragons started selecting their own jewels; however, unlike other times, they weren't looking for the most delicious gem, but for particularly pretty ones to give as gifts. Garble selected a Fire Ruby each, Puff a Sky Diamond (similar to the one Rarity got but a little smaller and without imperfections), and Fumes and Shakes got a Forest Emerald; the other dragons were fine with random gems they ate right there; Garble, Puff and Shakes also started chewing their gems but instead of outright eating them, they were just shaping them, giving them stylish heart forms.

"Guess we better leave now." Spike said once he finished eating the huge amethyst he had selected for himself. "Thanks again for guiding us."

"You're welcome." The smart dog said while looking at the other jewels he and his companions would carry back home. "Oh, and one more thing. If you are gonna spend the night in this forest, you have to be careful with the Timberwolves' Curse."

"Oh, don't worry, we have handled Timberwolves in the past." Applejack pointed out. "And we have our own wolves with us, just in case."

"Yeah, not a good idea to attack our pack." Lupe grinned.

"That's good and all, but I'm talking about a real curse." The smart dog replied. "It's an old saying of us Diamond Dogs."

The three dogs cleared their throat and chorused a verse.

"Heed the wrong of the Timberwolves, those who wander into the heart of the Everfree Forest will be stricken with unremarkable madness."

"Okaaay... if that was poetry, I don't wanna read it." Fumes got a puzzled look, similar to everypony else.

"And what does it mean?" Lobo asked.

"No idea. We know the curse, but since we hadn't been here in many years, we forgot the meaning." The shortest dog confessed.

"Oh, for Celestia's sake... We got a Zecora-saying without the wisdom." Applejack groaned.

"Guess if means we have to be careful with the Timberwolves. At least I hope it's all." Adam admitted, as he didn't know about this curse himself. It was probably very ancient and only knowledgeable for those living in this part of the forest.

After saying good-bye to the dogs, the group walked into the forest, heading to the Changelings' nest, and hoping they wouldn't find the curse's real meaning the hard way.


	13. The Cursed Forest

Chapter 13 - The Cursed Forest

As the group continued advancing, it became evident they wouldn't make it to the Hive that day, as they were still at mid-way, and arriving by flight or teleportation would set-off the Changelings' alarm spells, so they all agreed on advancing as much as possible and then take a short break. Spike, thanks to his Power Stone, could get unlimited stamina, but the others, even Adam, would need to rest a bit before entering the Hive.

"I think we should look for some high place to rest; maybe on top of a tree or some large rocks." Lobo suggested. "It will be safer, and with less bugs crawling on us while we try to sleep."

"Some are already crawling on us." Fumes groaned while using his dragon breath on his own skin, at low power, to get rid of several ants and other insects. The other dragons were having similar problems, while the Mobians had started scratching themselves; Applejack had avoided this problem by hitting the bugs away with her ponytails (both the hairdo and her normal tail) while Adam and Rarity used a low level spell to keep their coats and manes too slippery for the insects.

"Hey, we can use this to scratch our backs." Shakes grinned when finding a large rock, and started rubbing his back against it. On a closer look, however, it was evident this wasn't a normal rock; it was square-shaped, and seemed to be part of a huge pedestal.

"STOP RUBBING YOURSELF ON THAT!" Garble suddenly got very angry, and pushed Shakes away from the stone. The others were surprised at first until Puff looked up at the rock and pointed up, the other dragons noticing this and immediately apologizing to Garble, as they all almost followed Shakes' example before Garble snapped.

"Sorry, Garble, I didn't recognize it at first... it's been years since we were here!" Shakes was now honestly ashamed. The group's non-dragons, very puzzled by now, looked up at the stone, and realized it really was part of a pedestal, and, on top of it, there was a natural-sized adult dragon's statue. Even more, aside the statue's size, and some extra back and neck spikes, this dragon looked too much like Garble.

"This guy must've been pretty important to get a statue this big. Who was he anyway?" Spike asked the dragons.

"Avalor The Wise One, my brother." Garble sighed, shedding a tear; Nicole noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"Your brother... and... he's no longer around, is he?" Lupe sighed as well, realizing this was surely a posthumous monument.

"No, he's not. Because of..." Garble couldn't help but give the group's ponies a light glare, turning his back when it was becoming too intense.

"Oh, my... You mean, a pony... eliminated him?" Rarity gasped. "Maybe we're intruding too much, and feel free to ignore us if this is a painful subject, but... why? And how?"

Garble looked down, realizing he couldn't ignore this, the same way it was impossible to ignore a statue this size. Besides, at least, Rarity was asking in a very polite and respectful way, something Garble actually appreciated. The red dragon took a deep breath and started telling the story.

"My brother... well, as you can see from the statue, he was much older than me. A couple centuries older, actually. For the non-dragons and Spike here, I'm gonna tell you this is more or less common among dragons; since we can live for centuries, our parents can have kids every few hundred years. Anyway... my brother... he fell in love... with a pony." Garble barely could say the last part.

"_Whoa. So, I wasn't the first one."_ Spike thought, remembering his former crush on Rarity.

"You know how he got the 'Wise' nickname? Because he liked to learn; he read any book or scroll he could find, and because of that he had a lot more knowledge than most dragons twice his age; and since the only ones who write books are the ponies, he had a lot of contact with them... and because of that, he usually was much more well behaved than the average dragon... Heh, he actually was a lot like Spike, just much bigger."

Spike smiled a bit at this; he liked the idea of him not being the first dragon having good relationships with the ponies.

"Because of his contact with the ponies... he eventually met this mare... she was very impressed with Avalor. And... she had lost her sister some time before meeting him... and she didn't have too much immediate family... so... they started spending a lot of time together. So much, they started falling in love. I don't remember any time Avalor was happier."

Garble sighed and looked down now.

"However... it was still a hard-to-work relationship. She was very busy; I mean, she had lots of responsibilities... especially since her sister was gone, and now she had to do her job too... so her time with Avalor was very limited. And because of that, the other ponies didn't get too used to seeing Avalor as her couple... they started seeing him as a monster. Back then he wasn't as big as the statue, but he was still much bigger than anypony, and still very impressive. Eventually, some ponies feared he'd eventually become dangerous, just like Discord a few centuries before that... guess that my brother being a dragon, and Discord looking a lot like a dragon didn't help either... so... these ponies decided to... finish my brother."

The others were completely silent by now.

"Several unicorns came up with a spell that would make my brother get back to his 'baby dragon' age... so his girlfriend could educate him from a very early age and make sure he'd never become a monster... but the spell didn't work. Instead of making him a baby dragon, they aged him to full adult... and the spell changed him so fast and... painfully... Argh... I still can hear his roaring in my nightmares. Avalor was in super pain when he got changed!"

Realizing Garble was feeling now very bad about retelling this story, Fumes decided to continue it for him.

"You guys know that greed can age a dragon very quickly, right? Well, the problem with that quick aging is that, if it's too fast, the dragon has problems controlling him/herself, and acts like a wild-er animal. Avalor became the monster those ponies were trying to stop in the first place."

"Irony strikes again." Lobo sighed.

"And even worse irony... Avalor's girlfriend was the only one strong enough to stop him." Garble talked again.

"His girlfriend... whoa, hold on." Applejack gasped. "A super powerful mare, that had lost her sister and was doing both their jobs, and had lots of responsibilities... Yah aren't saying this mare was..."

"Princess Celestia." Garble groaned, shocking Spike and the non-dragons. "She tried to... calm him down... but Avalor was so furious and so big that it was impossible to reason with him; when I tried to do it, Princess Celestia herself had to save me from my own brother! And even the other adult dragons couldn't stop him either; it was... ugh... it was so bad that... Princess Celestia had to use her strongest attack spell to stop him."

"Oh, no." Leeta gulped.

"B-but Celestia can stop a monster (no offense) by turning it into stone or some other non-lethal way, right?" Lyco asked.

"Yes, but when she stopped Discord, she did it with the help of Princess Luna, and the same happened with some other monsters and super villains; without Luna to help her, Princess Celestia couldn't use... uh... what's the word... when you are having... compassion..."

"Merciful." Nicole helped him.

"Yes; merciful magic. Princess Celestia couldn't use spells that wouldn't... k-kill Avalor... at least, the spells that wouldn't hurt him wouldn't stop him either... so, she used a very powerful attack called Dragon Slayer." Garble and his gang cringed at the mere mention of this spell.

"I've heard about that spell. It's the magical equivalent of a super volcanic eruption. Only for the most desperate situations." Adam added.

"Yeah... after the spell hit my brother, there wasn't enough left of him to bury." Garble sighed sadly. "Princess Celestia then made this monument to honor him... but of course, the damage was already done; after Avalor's death, ponies and dragons were no longer that social with each other. In fact, before meeting Spike, I hadn't met any other dragon close to ponies."

Spike was now very thoughtful, and realized something; his own VERY close relationship with Princess Celestia was probably influenced by her past romance with Avalor. She probably saw her mentoring of a young dragon as a way to make up for Avalor's death.

"So... what Celestia did for me... it's pretty much the same those ponies wanted her to do with Avalor. Raise a young dragon and see him as a surrogate son instead of a love interest." Spike commented.

"In that case, I can say she did a good job with you." Sally said to Spike. "Still, it was a very tragic ending for her and Avalor's story. Sorry about that, Garble."

"Yeah... not the best way to get a good image of us ponies." Applejack added, looking at Garble with an almost apologetic expression.

"Thanks... okay... let's get going before I start 'sweating by my eyes', alright?" Garble groaned a bit, making it obvious he wanted to drop this conversation as he was in the verge of tears.

The group nodded at this and started walking away from the huge monument, some of them, especially Adam and Spike, making mental notes about talking with Princess Celestia about this when getting back to Canterlot.

After a while, the group decided to take a break and set camp. They all dispersed a bit to look for a good place, when Lyco noticed something in a tree.

"Hey, Leeta, come see this." The wolf called her twin, and soon they were both checking out a series of markings on some trees. They didn't look like claw marks, so, obviously, no wild animal had made them, but the whole place smelled like a mix of dry wood and canine fur, not to mention a stinky scent they didn't recognize.

"Mmm... wonder what these marks mean..." Lyco started touching the marks, and then noticed a few of them resembled a wolf's head. "Do you think these marks are part of that Timberwolf's Curse the Diamond Dogs were talking about?"

"Maybe... but those dogs' heads are harder than their diamonds. They didn't even know the details of the curse." Leeta reminded her as they continued seeing the marks. Suddenly, the marks started glowing, and before the twins could say another word, their eyes started glowing as well, both sisters freezing on the spot. Then, the trees around them started producing a smelly mist that covered their bodies.

"Ugh. What's that smell?" Amy, who was a few yards away, covered her nose.

"Sorry: it was me. I ate some wild beans I found awhile ago..." Fumes started apologizing.

"No, that's not the smell she's talking about." Lupe took a deep sniff. By now, most of the group was sensing it. "What's that stench..."

"Timberwolf's breath." Applejack, Rarity and Spike chorused. They would recognize this smell anywhere.

"Hey, where are the twins?" Fiona asked. Then, she and all the other elastic ones started stretching their necks to get a high point of view and search around. The dragons followed their example and started flying around the area.

"Leeta! Lyco! Girls, where are..." Maria got closer to where Lyco and Leeta had found the marked trees, and felt the awful smell becoming more intense. Maria decided to play it safe and transformed her hands into large fans while making her arms bigger and more muscular, to fan away the horrible smell; this proved to be a good idea as she soon found the mist, and she could move it away with her improvised fans. "Ah, there you... are... uh... this isn't a... conscious transformation, right?"

The twins were now standing on four legs, and had increased their size at least 3 times, plus having a furious, feral look on their faces, and their fangs and claws being sharp and big enough to cut a bear in half. Maria realized immediately that Leeta and Lyco's current state wasn't the result of their normal shape-shifting, as the twins eyes had turned a bright, glowing green, and they were now exhaling the very same stinky mist from their muzzles.

"Everypony... and dragon... COME QUICKLY!" Maria yelled at her companions. Unfortunately, Lyco and Leeta heard her, and reacted by pouncing on her. Maria barely evaded them by transforming her legs into a large spring and bouncing up, escaping the twins' jaws by mere inches.

The dragons were the next ones to arrive, and gasped at the sight of Lyco and Leeta's feral change, especially Fumes and Shakes. They were so shocked they didn't react when the twins charged at them, and Garble had to breath a large flame to stop them; this didn't help for long, as Lyco and Leeta jumped over the fire and tackled all the dragons at once. Luckily for the reptiles, the rest of the group had already arrived, and they managed to fight the sisters back and force them to retreat.

"What happened here?" Applejack said when finally getting her breath back.

"I don't know! They were acting like... well... animals; wild animals, I mean!" Maria explained. "I found them standing over there, and they attacked me the moment they saw me."

"Let's go check that." Adam nodded at Spike and they both went to see the place Maria told them. Adam recognized the marks on the trees as a very old language that nopony but an experienced alicorn like himself would even remember.

"These are curse marks. Anypony... or whatever... touching them and staying here for more than a few minutes would activate a magical trap. This is how Timberwolves are born... the magical mist transforms the plants that are exposed to it for some time, and get a wolf's characteristics." Adam frowned.

Spike then used the Time Stone, combined with the Reality one, to see scenes from this trap's past, confirming Adam's theory. Spike saw how, every once in awhile, some animal (a bird, a squirrel or a large enough bug) would touch the marks long enough to activate the spell, and besides getting changed themselves into mini-wolf-likes, the mist would also spread and, after some time, affect the nearby plants, creating the Timberwolves. Spike went a bit further, finding the exact moment when this curse was created.

"Mmm... it's a mix of unicorn and changeling magic... with some dragon fire added to the mix." Spike frowned. The spell was originally casted by some corrupt yet powerful unicorns, getting paid by the Changelings, and using a torch with dragon fire to complete the magic. Apparently, the Changelings had wanted to create a mix-up of Magical Trap and Watchdogs Surveillance System; anypony trying to sneak into their hive would be transformed by the mist if touching the marks, or, if evading the trees, getting attacked by the Timberwolves and/or the transformed animals.

"You can see if there's a cure?" Adam asked him.

"No... which means we'll need to create our own cure. Twilight, Zecora, how much I miss you both." Spike groaned.

"I think I might have a solution; the spell is affecting their minds, right?" Sally, who had joined Spike and Adam shortly after Spike started using the Time and Reality Stones, asked the dragon.

"Yes... but I don't know if I can heal them completely just by using the Mind Stone. And I don't wanna risk hurting them if I use the Reality one to force a change." Spike explained.

"But Lyco and Leeta are shape-shifters, Spike. You don't need to change their bodies; if you can heal their minds, they'll be able to change back by themselves." Sally pointed out. "Also, you can use the Soul Stone so they can get in 'touch' with their real selves."

"That's a good plan." Adam pointed while looking at the trees. "You go find the twins and try helping them, and send Garble and the other dragons here. We need to destroy the curse so it won't affect anypony else, and I'm pretty sure the reason the original spell included dragon fire is to make the marks and trees invulnerable to anything but dragon fire itself."

Spike and Sally nodded and went back with the rest of the group, telling everything to them and sending the dragons to help Adam get rid of the cursed trees. Even if Spike himself could have burned the trees, it was a good idea to give the other dragons something to do while the rest of the group tracked down Lyco and Leeta.

Lupe, Lobo, Maria and Fiona started sniffing around, getting Lyco and Leeta's scent almost immediately. Then, the group started separating into teams in order to close any escape route and catch the twins. Those with elastic powers and Spike (via his Reality-made wings) would get an aerial point of view, moving around via the trees, while the ponies and Lobo would follow by foot... or paw and hoof; plus, they'd have a very important yet dangerous mission.

"Live bait... ugh, couldn't we use a piece of cheese?" Rarity gulped a bit, not liking this job at all.

"Only if yah have a mouse trap the size of a train wagon." Applejack replied.

"Quiet... I think they're getting closer." Lobo said while getting alert... or more than usual.

A second later, Lyco and Leeta jumped out of some bushes and attacked the trio. Lobo jumped to push Rarity out of the way when Lyco tried to bite her while Applejack did her own attack, a roundhouse double kick at Leeta's muzzle. Then, Rarity used her magic to throw several twigs and small stones at the twins, not making a real damage but keeping them distracted.

"**NOW!"** Lobo yelled while looking up. An instant later, several colorful nets and ropes fell over the twins; meaning all the elastic ones were morphing into a living trap.

Lyco and Leeta resisted them but soon they got immobilized; luckily, as wild animals, they didn't remember their own elastic powers so they couldn't use them to escape. Still, their sheer strength was making it difficult to keep a hold on them.

"Spike, now, do it!" Sally, who had only morphed her hands and therefore was still more than capable of talking, turned at Spike, who then jumped down a tree and pointed at the twins with his staff, the Mind and Soul's Stones glowing intensely.

"_Time to get back to normal, Girls."_ Spike thought while making mental contact with them both. Lobo then howled loudly to alert Adam and the dragons so they could join them.

Spike used the Soul Stone to calm down the twins' wild side, pretty much getting in contact with their 'nice side'. The dragon smiled a bit when this started working, realizing this wasn't too different to how Fluttershy tamed wild beasts, by getting in touch with the animals' wild and soul selves.

With the twins no longer resisting, Spike could start working on their minds. At first, Spike could only see feral, instinctive thoughts, but when finally finding a few memories, he could take them up to the twins' conscious mind, and from that moment, all the memories and normal personality started returning as well. Making a final 'link' between each twin's mind with her respective soul finished the job.

When Spike got out of the wolves' minds and souls, he used the Time Stone to see how long he had been doing this; he was a bit surprised when finding out the whole process took more than an hour.

"_No wonder they look so tired."_ Spike thought while looking at Lyco and Leeta slowly morphing their bodies back to normal, both girls unconscious by now. When the elastic ones returned to their own normal shapes to stop trapping them, Shakes and Fumes moved to the twins' side, Shakes holding Leeta and Fumes doing the same with Lyco when they were finally out of the trap.

"Will they be alright?" Nicole asked Spike, who looked a bit tired himself due to the mental effort.

"Yeah... I got them completely back to normal." Spike explained. "And the cursed trees..."

"They're now cursed ashes." Garble informed him.

"Good. Yah think that, by destroying the trees, the Timberwolves and those already transformed by the curse will get back to normal too?" Applejack asked Adam.

"I doubt it, Applejack. If it was that simple, Spike wouldn't have needed to heal the twins; burning down the trees would have been enough." Adam replied. "Still, at least, the curse will never ever affect anypony else."

"Good to know." Lobo sighed in relief while looking at the dragons holding Lyco and Leeta. "I think they need to rest now. Let's find a camping spot and try to sleep for a couple of hours before continuing."

The others agreed with Lobo, and a few of them couldn't help but smile a bit when looking at Shakes and Fumes carrying the girls bridal style, both dragons having nice, loving smiles all the way.


	14. Spike vs The Changling King

Chapter 14 - Spike vs. The Changeling King

The group woke up very early the next morning; in fact, they did it one hour before sunrise. Spike agreed on watching over his companions while they slept, as he could use the Power Stone to give himself unlimited stamina and stay alert the whole night without any sleep; not something he'd like to do regularly since it would be mentally stressing, but very good in case of emergency missions. Besides, after Lyco and Leeta's incident the previous night, it was obvious the whole group would need a good break before continuing.

After a while of walking, the group finally felt the scent of the Changelings (mostly the dragons and canines, of course); usually, the Changelings could copy any creature's scent in order to make their disguises more effective, but in this area, where they were at their strongest and with numbers on their side, they conserved their normal aspect and scent most of the time.

"Ugh. No wonder the Changelings change their scent when they transform... they stink." Lyco commented while taking a good sniff. "It's like a mix of... garbage, compost, and a rotten steak."

"With a skunk on top." Fumes agreed with her.

The group now went into full stealth. Spike used the Reality and Mind Stones to keep themselves pretty much invisible to the Changelings' surveillance patrols, but they still had to keep themselves silent, since Spike had to make a considerable effort to keep a group this big relatively invisible, and blocking their noise would make this a more delicate labor. They almost got discovered twice, first by some normal-looking Changelings flying right over their heads, and later by some bird-morphed Changelings that, luckily, due to their proximity to the hive, still had their normal scent and the wolves could identify them.

"_The scent is becoming more intense. We must be getting quite close to the Hive now."_ Spike used the Mind Stone to communicate with the group with minimal noise.

"_You're right. Try to use your telepathy on any Changeling to find out if there's an entrance we can use." _Adam thought back.

Spike nodded, and, after advancing a bit more, they finally saw the Hive. Spike thought it looked a lot like the cocoon-like trap Chrysalis had used against Celestia at the Canterlot wedding, but, obviously, this one was gigantic. Only reason it wasn't visible from a further distance was because of the many trees and rocks blocking the group's view.

"_Look. More Changelings... whoa, that's how my voice sounds in my head?" _Shakes thought while pointing up at several flying Changelings leaving the Hive.

"_Yep, that's your voice. Okay, let me see how the Changelings' mind sound like." _Spike focused on the last Changeling leaving the Hive. He made a quick scan, a process that made the Changeling to stop flying and shake his head, feeling a light migraine; Spike cut the scanning before the other Changelings could notice it.

"_The only way in or out is precisely that entrance. Guess we'll need to make our own entrance."_ Spike told the group as they got closer to one of the Hive's least guarded areas, finding a spot without any sentinels around.

"_And how are we making the entrance?"_ Fumes asked.

"_Claws and teeth, how else?"_ Garble shrugged as he got ready to start clawing and biting the wall, but Spike stopped him.

"_This area is mostly unguarded because the wall is very thick, Garble; at least 4 feet. We need another way... And I think I got it." _Spike grinned and used the Reality Stone to morph himself into a huge, armored animal with drill-like hands and arms. _"Here comes a tunnel."_

Spike used the drills on the wall, and, surprisingly, did very little noise. Still, Rarity and Adam used their magic to create a sound-proof barrier around them; basically, using a spell from Adam, and Rarity giving him some extra power so he'd conserve his strength for later. Meanwhile, Sally and Lupe used their elastic hands and arms (making them much bigger in the process) to remove the debris falling from the wall as Spike continued drilling, and Applejack, and the rest of the Mobians and dragons, kept their eyes and ears on alert in case any Changeling happened to fly around; even with Spike and Adam's powers at work to keep the group silent and invisible, the Changelings would still notice a giant hole in the wall.

Once the hole/tunnel was big enough, Rarity and Adam stayed in the back of the group as they started entering, so their magic could still cover them up a bit, and once they were the only ones left, Adam used a small illusion spell to make it seem the wall was still intact. Unless a Changeling happened to touch the wall, this trick would work perfectly.

The inside of the hive looked a lot like a combination of a large cavern and a beehive, but still with the Changelings' specific stench. The group had to hide behind a few pillars to avoid detection, while Spike used the Mind and Reality Stones to locate King Sombra.

"_He's right in the middle of the Hive... and with a few hundred Changelings around him at all times."_ Spike groaned mentally at the last part.

"_Spike, you're the one with more chances to defeat him, and besides,you are the one with the Stones to try healing him."_ Adam pointed out.

"_We can start a battle here in the Hive to keep all the Changelings busy while you enter Sombra's chamber and fight him." _Sally offered.

"_Ah, a random battle... nice idea." _Garble thought, grinning at the idea.

Spike agreed and the group got ready for action when realizing all the Changelings were now heading to the exit, with evidently hostile intentions.

"_Spike, mental scan."_ Lupe told the dragon. Spike obeyed, and this time it was pretty easy since ALL the Changelings were thinking the same.

"_A mass invasion... Sombra is sending all the Changelings to attack Equestria. He knows we'd do something to stop him, and he's gonna make as much damage as possible before we can do a thing." _

"_What do we do now?"_ Amy asked.

"_New plan. You guys go outside and keep the Changelings here." _Spike frowned.

"_We can't fight all of them alone!" _Shakes gulped.

"_Not alone."_ Spike grinned now. "_If Sombra is doing this, it means we no longer have to care about the Alarm Spells. Stealth is over."_

A few seconds later, the whole group was teleported outside by Spike, who stayed inside the Hive. And then, the rest of the group, those who had stayed in Ponyville, teleported alongside them.

"Whoa. I'll never get used to this trick." Knuckles groaned.

"You and me both, dude." Garble chuckled.

"Okay, guys, here's the situation; the Changelings are gonna invade Equestria unless we stop them here. Spike is inside to handle Sombra himself but he needs us working here." Adam explained. Now Sally took command, as she was used to coordinate large battles.

"Garble, you and your friends fly up there and give us cover. Rainbow Dash, Sonic, you guys use your speed and keep all the Changelings close to the Hive; any Changeling moving half a mile away, you bring it back here or beat it up. Daemon, Adam, you guys get the Hive's entrance; use attack spells and elemental strikes to keep them busy and limit their exit. The rest of us, keep the battle here and try to damage them as much as possible. And Knuckles..."

Knuckles frowned a bit.

"Smash."

Knuckles got a little grin.

"Now we have a plan. Let's get it on!" Rainbow grinned and hoof-fist bumped with Sonic before they dashed at top speed, moving around the Hive and giving several kicks/punches/head-butts at high speed, keeping the Changelings from escaping the rest of the group, that were already battling, the whole group obeying Sally's commands, especially Knuckles, who was just too happy to hit groups of Changelings at full strength. When the Changelings realized Sally was the one directing their enemies, they tried to take her down, but Garble and the other dragons kept her well protected with aerial fire blasts, so Sally only had to hit a few enemies while focusing mostly on directing her allies in battle.

The moment Spike looked at the Hive's entrance and saw several Changelings getting blasted inside by Daemon's lightning attacks, he knew it was the perfect time to face King Sombra. Spike used the Time Stone to accelerate himself and enter the chamber at super speed, using its only entrance he immediately sealed with an intense dragon breath's flame, so Sombra couldn't escape.

"Alright, Sombra, it's now just you and me." Spike grinned but wide opened his eyes when noticing Sombra was much larger than usual, and surrounded by several Changelings, all of them tougher-looking than the usual ones.

"And my bodyguards, Dragon." King Sombra grinned evilly at the purple dragon. "I expected some... plan to try stopping me, so I took some measures. I admit I'm surprised at how powerful your little strike team is, but I'm also disappointed at how bad this part of your plan is. You made quite a mistake locking yourself with us."

Spike realized that, even with the Infinity Stones, it would be quite hard to battle King Sombra and his guards at once. The dragon did a quick mental scan on himself and some of his allies outside, namely those with military and strategic abilities, and then got a little grin.

"Oh, no, Sombra, you got it wrong. I'm not trapped here with you; you guys are the ones trapped here with me. Or more precisely, with US." Spike said while using the Reality Stone on himself, energized by the Power one, and with the Soul and Mind Stones to provide a mental and spiritual bond, that would soon be necessary. A blinding flash of light later, Spike had divided himself into six clones of himself, each one with some differences.

The first and more noticeable was extremely big and muscular, so much he'd probably dwarf Daemon and Big Macintosh at once; he also looked much tougher and aggressive than normal; another was very similar to Spike's techno-dragon form but with a bulkier, brighter armor, in red, silver and golden tones; next to him, an archer dragon, just slightly taller than normal Spike, dressed in black, with a high-techl bow at hand, and wearing red shades; behind him, a very imposing, muscular warrior dragon, that Spike obviously created with Daemon in mind, but with a large red cape instead of wings, and holding a big battle hammer; quickly moving in front of the group, a clone that looked a lot like the 'Knight Spike' from the dragon's old dreams, with an outfit and shield similar to the one Spike used when battling the Diamond Dogs; and finally a lean, black-leather outfitted dragon with some techno-appliances on his wrists.

"Now, Sombra, you wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way?" The shield-wielder frowned at Sombra. "I know you'll probably say you want the 'hard' one, but it's just good manners to ask beforehand."

"Well, here's my answer." Sombra nodded at his bodyguards, and a moment later they all morphed into huge, humanoid shapes that looked a lot like armored insects, all of them having large claws and what seemed to be a mix-up of a spear and a battle staff.

"Okay... you did it; they became uglier than before." The archer smirked at Sombra.

Some of the bodyguards then pointed at the Spike Clones with a hand each, and surprised the dragons for a moment as the armor covering their arms became small cannons.

"Somehow, I doubt they're gonna shoot us a party." The armored dragon got a defensive stance.

The Changelings then all shot at once, the attack looking like a series of short yet quite fast magical blasts; the shielded and armored dragons covered their companions, while the hammer and the super muscular ones countered by jumping at the Changelings and hitting them all apart with a mighty shockwave. The moment the Changelings dispersed around the chamber, the Dragon Clones dispersed as well to start attacking them, while the largest ones (again, Hammer and Muscular) continued their attack on Sombra.

Sombra used magical beams to hold Hammer and Muscular at a distance, and it worked, until Archer surprised him with an explosive arrow right in the eyes, hurting Sombra and interrupting his own attack, giving Hammer the chance to hit him full force, and then, with his defenses down, Muscular tackled the villain, using so much strength they both went through the closest wall and out of the chamber. The impact was so powerful that Sombra shrunk considerably, going from gigantic size to just barely bigger than Daemon.

"You... miserable... brute..." Sombra growled at Muscular. "You are all beneath me; I'm a King! A Sovereign! A god among mortals, You, Love Lorn Beast, and I won't be bullied by..."

Muscular cut his rant by grabbing Sombra by the leg and starting smashing him against the ground, using all his strength and making small craters due to the impacts, finishing with a particularly hard smash that pretty much stuck Sombra in the ground.

"Mmm... Puny Pony God." Muscular frowned. "I'll stick to Celestia and Luna, thank you."

Sombra, still stunned by the attacks, tried to turn into his mist-fog shape and escape, but Hammer and Armor stopped him from doing this, as Hammer seemed to have Daemon-like powers, creating a wind that forced Sombra to remain solid, and Armor sent him back to the crater with a powerful energy blast. Some of Sombra's minions tried to help him, but Stealthy surprised them by appearing out of nowhere and blasting them all with his techno-like bracelets' projectiles, that seemed to sting like bees or spiders but with much more force, similar to a small electric shock.

"It's time!" Shield jumped out of the chamber. "Muscular, Hammer, hold him down! The others, cover me!"

The huge clones did as said, holding Sombra, while the others formed a defensive circle around them; Shield then stood over Sombra and morphed his shield into a pair of gauntlets.

"I'm not Celestia, Luna, or Twilight, not even Zecora, so don't expect me to use delicacy. My exorcisms are much more direct!" Shield said while a set of energy claws popped out of the gauntlets, and then he sunk them in Sombra's chest. The villain yelled in pain and started shaking, with the muscular clones holding him in place, until Shield removed the claws from his chest, along with a ghostly, dark unicorn-like shape, similar to King Sombra's most powerful form but much darker and evil looking. The moment it was out of King Sombra, the villain calmed down instantly, and started changing into a normal-looking alicorn, with dark black coat, and long black-streaked silver mane and tail

"Your Evil Within." Shield frowned while holding the demonic entity in his hands.

The entity hissed and tried to escape or attack shield, but stopped when noticing the gauntlets had started to glow again, this time with blinding intensity.

"You're not really a living thing; the Infinity Stones told me that... meaning I don't need to hold back!" Shield growled as he started focusing all the Stones' power in a single, final attack. "You will not corrupt anypony else!"

The entity now roared in pain, as the Infinity Stones' glows combined in a single, bright, white light beam that started tearing it apart from the inside out. The entity's eyes turned entirely white and it yelled one final time before Shield unleashed the final strike, an energy explosion that obliterated the entity once and for all.

Out of the Hive, everypony (and the Mobians, dragons and changelings) saw the bright beam coming from the inside. The Changelings, having a bit of a hive mind, realized instantly that their ruler was gone, and since they were already losing the battle, they all gave up and dispersed.

"I'll go get..." Sonic and Rainbow Dash were stopped by Sally.

"They're no longer hostile. They don't wanna fight anymore; just escaping and hiding." Sally smiled. "Spike did it."

Inside, the clones nodded at each other and they all fused back into the normal Spike, who looked down at the now recovering Drake.

"Nnnngh... what... hit me... I... wait..." Drake shook his head and wide opened his eyes. "I... remember it all. That... King Sombra... it was me..."

"No... not you... not anymore." Spike smiled at him. "Your brother will be happy to see you again. And... if you wanna thank me for kicking an evil entity out of your body... you can start by catching me... because I think I'm gonna faint..."

Drake was a bit puzzled at the last statement until noticing Spike was slowly closing his eyes and his knees started shaking slightly. Drake stood up and caught Spike right before the dragon fainted; obviously, dividing his mind into six separate beings and controlling the Infinity Stones' powers at once wasn't an easy task, and now Spike was really needing a break.

"Thank You." Drake smiled while gently placing a sleeping Spike on the ground. "Mind if I give you company... because I think I need a break too."

Drake placed himself next to Spike and, just like the dragon, fainted right there; certainly, planning a massive invasion and fighting six super dragons at once while being possesed by a dark powered being, and later having it kicked out of his body, it certainly was very exhausting as well.


	15. A Gift from the Dragons' Heart

Chapter 15 - A Gift from the Dragons' Heart

Spike woke up with a pumping, beating headache. He hadn't felt like this since the time he helped Twilight study for a particularly hard exam, and he kept himself awake by drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee; when the caffeine's effects died, he fell like a sack of potatoes.

"Nnngh... don't tell me I had twelve expressos... again..." Spike groaned while rubbing his forehead. He then remembered what had happened before he fainted, and after that, realized that a warm, caring hand was holding his other arm.

"Calm down, Spike. It's me, Sally."

Spike turned his head and smiled at the sight of the Mobian princess, who was now gently caressing his forehead. Spike also realized he was no longer at the Changelings' Hive but in a bed, and, judging by the room's decoration, he was at the hospital.

"What happened... Wait.. King Sombra..."

"Drake." Sally held both of Spike's hands now. "You did it, Spike. You healed Adam's brother. He's in the next room; he woke up a few minutes ago. Adam is with him, and they're comparing stories and catching up. The guy feels quite guilty for all the stuff he did as King Sombra... according to Twilight, he seemed to be in physical pain when somepony mentioned the Crystal Ponies."

"If he really is gonna feel like that for everything wrong he did, the poor guy's conscience will punish him forever." Spike sighed, feeling a bit bad for Drake.

"But his brother will help him, and you know Princess Celestia and Luna will cooperate too." Sally reminded him. "As for you, well, you had been unconscious for a couple days now. After the battle, we found you and Drake outside of what was left of the Hive's inner chamber. We brought you here, and you both had been sleeping since then. Adam and Twilight got your Staff, and she is keeping it at home with a protective spell."

Spike nodded, agreeing with Twilight's idea. Something as powerful as the Infinity Staff should never be left unattended, and being unconscious himself, Spike wasn't in the best conditions to guard it.

"We all had been taking shifts to be here with you... except Pee Wee, of course. Fluttershy had to take him to her cottage because the little guy wanted to be with you, but it's kinda dangerous to have a fire-powered bird in a hospital; alcohol, anesthesia, bandages, oxygen tanks... too many flammable things."

"Yeah... that's why Twilight or Princess Celestia often had to nurse me themselves whenever I got sick in the past; I wouldn't be allowed in here if I had the hiccups." Spike chuckled a bit and then smiled back at Sally. "I'm glad everything is over."

"And I'm glad you're alright." Sally replied. "You are now one of Equestria's main heroes, you know that?"

"Yeah... hope I am doing it for the right reasons." Spike sighed, intriguing Sally. "You know... when I first started with this... it was because I didn't want to be useless to my friends... and... to really being helpful in case of danger... But, mostly, I did it to... impress a special someone."

"You said... 'someone' instead of 'somepony'... so... you're not talking about a mare, am I right?" Sally asked, gulping a bit at this realization.

"Yes, you're right... and you're also beautiful, brave, tender, kind... overall, you're awesome... As Rainbow would say, you're 20% more awesome than anypony I've ever met." Spike smiled at the little joke but then got serious again. "What... I'm trying to say is... well... uh... To put it simple... do you know where's my backpack?"

Sally, a bit puzzled by this change of topic, nodded at him, and stretched her arm to retrieve Spike's backpack, that was on the other side of the room. Sally noticed Spike was often very careful with it, so guessed the contents were very important to the dragon and asked their friends and the hospital's staff to keep it in the room.

"Thanks." Spike grabbed the backpack and then, surprising Sally, the dragon took out the Glacier Sapphire he had been keeping for a long time now.

"Usually, when I get a gem like this, I consider myself lucky because I'm having a fancy dinner." Spike smiled as he gave it to Sally. "Now I consider myself even luckier because I found the right girl to give this to her; and the heart's shape is, well, as symbolic as you can guess: basically, I'm giving you my heart. Will you... take it?"

Sally paused for a few moments before giving Spike the most tender, loving stare the dragon had ever seen so far, and then the princess gave him a long, wonderful kiss that he replied with the same love and passion he was getting.

"I'm glad to take your heart, Spike, since, for a long time now, you've had mine." Sally said when they paused the kiss, and the new couple smiled again before getting back to kissing.

"You've had my heart pretty much since you came to Equestria." Spike caressed her face while still kissing Sally's lips.

"And you've had mine since you left; it just took me a bit more to realize it." Sally confessed, smiling and tenderly kissing his nose and lips.

"And... voilá!"

The couple turned to see Pinkie Pie with an artist's outfit, and giving the last touches to a large picture of Spike and Sally kissing.

"Heh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you guys; but I had to get this moment on picture."

"Okaaaay... besides the fact it looks like a kindergarten's paint, it's a pretty nice touch." Spike chuckled.

"Hey, I painted it in less than 2 minutes and without you two noticing I was in the same room. Give me some credit." Pinkie grinned before taking out some cards. "Oh, wait, I have credit here already."

Spike and Sally rolled their eyes yet smiled at Pinkie's antics. The mare left the paint at the room and started walking out of the room.

"I have to tell the others you are finally awake, Spike." Pinkie winked an eye at the dragon before finally leaving the room. "And I have to start organizing your 'Spike and Sally Finally Got Together' Party."

"I'm surprised she hasn't organized a 'The Changelings Are No Longer A Threat' Party." Spike chuckled.

"Oh, she did. Yesterday. Right outside the hospital." Sally grinned while taking out a party box. "Here. I saved you some cake and party gifts."

"Never missing a cue, uh?" Spike laughed and the couple went back to kissing.

Meanwhile, at Ponyville, the dragons were hanging around with their respective love interests, everyone on a different location. Garble was with Nicole at the library, the smart girl trying to improve Garble's general culture; Shakes with Leeta at the Apples' farm, helping with a cart; Fumes with Lyco just walking around town, and Puff with Fiona buying some muffins and candies at Sugarcube Corner.

"Hey, guys!" Pinkie pretty much appeared out of nowhere behind Garble and Nicole. "Spike is awake! Going to tell the others!" Pinkie disappeared as quickly as she appeared.

"How does she do that?" Nicole arched an eyebrow.

"No idea... but I'm glad she came. Good to know the little guy is awake." Garble smiled and then went behind a bookshelf, retrieving a sack. "Both because I was worried about him, and because we dragons came to an agreement."

"What agreement?" Nicole asked him.

"None of us would give 'this' to a special girl before he woke up." Garble grinned at Nicole before taking out the Fire Ruby he had saved from the Diamond Dogs' territory.

"Garble... I... I thought that was your lunch..." Nicole was now blushing.

"For once, I'm not gonna hear my stomach, and do what my heart wants." Garble smiled at her while handing the gem to Nicole. "And what my heart wants, is to be with you, forever and ever; to be with the coolest, prettiest, most awesome girl I've ever met. The girl that changed my life for the better."

"_It seems I also changed your vocabulary for the better."_ Nicole thought while giving him a tender smile and accepting the jewel. "And you're the guy who changed my life for the better, to the point I can't imagine myself living without you."

Nicole then stretched her arms to get Garble in a double hug, and kissed him long and passionately; Garble, excited, started kissing back with the same intensity and adoring every moment.

The scene repeated itself, with minor variations, all over Ponyville; Pinkie Pie would surprise one of the dragon-Mobian girl pairs, tell them about Spike's recovery, and disappear, making the dragon to take out a jewel and confess his feelings for the girls. Shakes and Fume gave Leeta and Lyco each a Forest Emerald, and Puff gave Fiona a Sky Diamond. Not long before that, the girls would react similarly to Nicole, hugging and kissing their respective dragon in passion and love.

As this happened, Twilight, who was among the first ones told by Pinkie that Spike had recovered conscience, used a spell to disappear the protective barrier around the Infinity Staff. The moment she did it, Spike, due to his mental and magical bond with the Stones, could summon the Staff, and it materialized in his hands; the first thing Spike did was... morphing the staff into a guitar, and serenading Sally.

_Can't blame you, for thinking, _

_That you never really knew me at all._

_I tried to, deny you, _

_But nothing ever made me feel so wrong. _

_I thought I was protecting you, from everything that I go through, but I know that we got lost along the way._

_Here I am, _

_with all my heart; I hope you understand._

_I know I let you down, but I'm never,_

_Gonna make that mistake again. _

_You brought me closer to who I really am_

_Come take my hand_

_I want the world to see_

_What you mean to me_

_What you mean to me_

_Just know that I'm sorry, I never wanted to make you feel so small._

_A story is just beginning but let the truth break down these walls, oh yeah_

_And every time I think of you, _

_I think of how you pushed me through _

_and shown me how much better I could be._

_Here I am _

_with all my heart I hope you understand _

_I know I let you down, but I'm never,_

_Gonna make that mistake again. _

_You brought me closer to who I really am_

_Come take my hand_

_I want the world to see_

_What you mean to me yeah_

_You make me feel like I'm myself_

_Instead of being someone else_

_I wanna live that every day_

_You say what no one else will say _

_you know exactly how to get to me you_

_Know It's what I need_

_It's what I need yeah_

_Here I am with_

_All my heart I hope you_

_Understand (I hope you understand) I know I let_

_You down but I'm never_

_Gonna make that mistake_

_Again you brought me_

_Closer to who I really am_

_So come take my hand_

_I want the world to see_

_What you mean to me_

_What you mean to me_

By the time Spike finished singing, Sally's eyes were gleaming due to happiness' tears, and the medics, nurses, and all the patients that could leave their beds, were clapping at him from the room's door. Adam and Drake were there too, with Adam giving Spike an encouraging grin and head nod, happy for his pupil.


	16. So Long Equestria Hello Mobius

Chapter 16 - So Long, Equestria, Hello, Mobius

After a couple of days, both Spike and Drake were out of the hospital. Drake was physically fine but it was obvious he'd still need a long time to come to terms with all the stuff he did as King Sombra; not to mention that some ponies were still resentful of him, so it was for the better that Celestia herself recommended him to stay away from The Crystal Empire.

That detail aside, things weren't just getting back to normal in Ponyville, but getting much better. All the dragons had adapted pretty well to life in the city, even if they still preferred to stay outside of town, due to ponies' homes not being adapted to their size and body shapes. Also, all the new couples were doing pretty well, with Spike and Sally being the most openly affective; also, the relations between Diamond Dogs and Ponies were slowly improving, with some of the canines actually going to Canterlot to discuss business deals with Princess Celestia, plus making their territory an official province or town, recognized by ponies' authorities and with freedom to make their own rules yet also respecting the ponies' government. Celestia had also talked with Fluttershy about the possibility of reforming Discord; without his powers, he now was a multi-species hybrid, and dealing with assorted kinds of animals was Fluttershy's speciality.

Last but not least, the Mobians had returned to actively work on a way to return home; finally, after almost 3 months after their arrival, Tails and Sally, along with Twilight, were ready to give the news to the group.

"We got a way to open a portal back to Mobius." Tails explained. "Basically, I'll recreate the portal that brought us here on first place. Since we don't have all the devices at hand, those that can't be replaced with Equestrian current level of technology will be replaced with some of Twilight's magic."

"We have adjusted my teleporting spells to the portal creating technology; that way, Tails can get all of you Mobians back home. The only problem is providing enough energy to power up the spell-tech." Twilight added. "And that's where Spike enters."

"The Power Stone will give all the energy we need." Sally turned at Spike. "Of course, you have to make the travel with us so the Stone's energy remains constant."

"It's not a big problem. After all the Mobians had returned home, Spike can use the same device to return here in a moment." Twilight smiled. Spike then rubbed the back of his head, he and Sally sharing an uneasy smile.

"Actually, Twi... Sally and I have been talking and... uh... I kinda want to... go with her."

Twilight wide opened her eyes at this, just like most of her friends; Pinkie just scratched her chin in confusion.

"Why's so hard for you to say it? Twily already said you really have to go..."

"Pinkie, Ah think Spike wants to go... uh... forever." Applejack interrupted the pink pony.

"Ah." Pinkie deadpanned; then, she got a glass of water out of nowhere, drank a sip, and spitted it out. **"WHAT?"**

"And... well..." Now Garble was the one talking while he and the rest of the dragons held their girls' hands. "We want to go too."

Pinkie took another sip of water to spit it out.

"**WHAT?"**

"Yeah, well... we don't wanna lose our girls." Fumes explained. "And you ponies are nice and all, but your society is... well... you created it for your kind, and creatures similar to you, like donkeys, and zebras, and the occasional gryphon."

"While Mobius is a world where several assorted species have created their own society." Shakes continued. "We dragons will fit there much better than we'd do here in Equestria."

"That's... understandable." Rarity said, washing away a little tear before looking back at Spike. "And you're right; it would be criminal to separate such a lovely group of couples."

Spike smiled back at Rarity before looking back at Twilight, who was now getting tearful eyes. The purple dragon sighed and caressed her cheek.

"Twi... I know I'm gonna miss you, but... this isn't different to... Shining Armor leaving to Canterlot's Military Academy, and later marrying Cadence... or you leaving Canterlot to move here to Ponyville... You're like my sister, Twi... for Celestia's sake, skip the 'like'; you ARE my sister! But now I have to move on and live my life, and start my own family with the girl I love. I know it's not like... moving to another town or something like that but..."

Twilight silenced him with a tight hug.

"I know. And I'm gonna miss you a lot, Little Brother... but you're right. It's your life. And no matter where you go, either another town or another world... if you're happy, I'm happy."

Spike smiled and hugged her back.

"**WHAT?" **Pinkie did the spit-take again.

"Pinkie!" A very soaked Knuckles growled at her. "Stop doing that... and besides, why you did it right now?"

"The Comedy Rules; every recurring joke comes in 'three'." Pinkie grinned before taking out a little plant pot with a small tree on it, with several little cards in the branches. "Here's the 'tree'."

Knuckles face-palmed at this while Sonic laughed.

"I'm gonna miss this girl's sense of humor." Sonic chuckled before looking at Rainbow. "And I'm gonna miss you too."

"Same here, Blue Guy. Not easy to find someone who can keep up with me." The blue pegasus chuckled before hoof-fist bumping with Sonic. Soon, all the Mobians were exchanging their good-byes with the ponies, and after that, Tails, Sally and Twilight went back to the Library to retrieve all the stuff they'd need, plus the Mobians went to the places they had been staying to retrieve some stuff they wanted to conserve when returning to Mobius; plus, Sonic really wanted to get some of the Apples' cider and pies; without chili-dogs, these had been the best substitute he found.

About one hour later, they were all ready to go. Spike sent a letter to Princesses Celestia and Luna to tell them about their depart, so they both could be there on time. The purple dragon and Celestia hugged each other, and some ponies were truly amazed that Celestia was getting teary eyes at this, not too different to Spike and Twilight's good-bye hug; other ponies, that knew better, weren't that surprised; if Twilight was Spike's sister, Celestia was pretty much his mother figure.

"I'm very proud of you, Spike. Good luck." Celestia whispered on Spike's ear.

"Thanks... Mom." Spike felt a tear running down his cheek when saying the last part. When he broke the hug, he turned to see Shining Armor and Cadence helping Twilight getting the teleporting spell ready; in reality, they were mostly comforting Twilight and reminding her this was the right thing to do.

"Hey, Shining, Cadence..." Spike's voice made them turn back at him. "Keep an eye on our sister for me, can you, please?"

"You know we will." Shining smiled at him. "Take good care of yourself, Little Bro. And I'm glad you're as lucky as myself; you found yourself a fine lady to share your life."

Spike and Sally shared a smile with Shining and Cadence, and then the Mobian princess went back to helping with the portal device.

Adam looked at this in silent approval and happiness. Besides being very glad for Spike's good fortune, he was also happy that he was taking the Infinity Stones and Staff to a very safe place; another world, where nopony would be tempted to steal them and risk losing control of their power. He also knew that Spike would be capable of returning to Equestria for occasional visits, especially considering that, on Mobius, he'd be getting the right technological help.

"Everybody ready?" Tails said to his friends, all the travelers getting together in a tight group.

"Let's do this, Tails." Sonic gave him a thumb up.

The fox boy grinned at the hedgehog, and activated the teleporter, that looked a lot like a body armor combined with assorted attached gizmos. Twilight then used her magic to synchronize the device to the teleporting frequency, and Spike powered it up with the Infinity Staff. After a few moments, a large portal opened in front of them, and, before anypony could even blink, the whole group was absorbed inside it.

"So long, Spike." Twilight smiled, half-sadly and half-proud.

The whole Equestrian group stayed silent, all of them sharing Twilight's general mood.

"Okay, that was fun. Anypony for Chinese?" Pinkie broke the mood with her usual personality.

Everypony looked back at Pinkie... and soon, even Celestia and Luna were laughing loudly.

"You are never letting us stay sad, uh, Pinkie?" Rainbow grinned at the pink mare.

"Well, no reason to stay sad. Our Mobian friends are back at home, our dragon friends are with their girls, and..." A bell rang. "That bell says my pudding is ready."

Minus the pudding part, the Mobians and dragons were feeling pretty much like Pinkie right now. Tails smiled when recognizing his laboratory, and all the dragons looked at the place in amazement.

"Whoa... your world is smaller than I thought..." Garble looked around.

"This is Tails' laboratory, Garble. It's much bigger outside." Nicole grinned at the blushing dragon.

"Alright, guys, we have to move now!" Sonic said in excitement. "We have to show the dragon guys around, tell our old friends that we're back, and I have to eat a chili-dog... or a hundred."

"I'd say you spent too much time with Pinkie Pie... if I didn't know you were already like this." Knuckles grinned at the blue guy while everyone started walking out of the lab, the dragons being particularly eager to know their new place and start their life with their beloved ones.

"Okay, you all heard Sonic. We must tell everyone we're back." Sally smiled and looked at Tails. "You tell them via the communicators. For those who don't have them... we must tell personally. Spike, can you give me a ride?"

"Of course." Spike used his Reality Stone to grow wings. Pee Wee, who had made the travel inside his backpack, flew out and positioned himself on Spike's head.

A couple minutes later, all the dragons were flying out of the lab, ready to know their new home, and each one carrying his respective girl. Life here will be good.


	17. Epilogue - Living Amongst the Mobians

Epilogue - Living Amongst the Mobians

One year later, the ponies were ready to go visit their friends on Mobius. Thanks to Tails sending them assorted stuff through portals, Twilight and Adam managed to re-create a teleportation device that would allow them to visit Mobius. It took some time without Tails or some other tech-savvy guy helping them, not to mention it was hard to work with some of the most delicate systems without the right tools (Tails had to send them some adapted ones, that could be used by hooves instead of hands), but Twilight and Adam did a pretty good work once they got used to the technology.

"Alright, are we all ready to go?" Twilight asked her friends, all of them gathering outside the library.

"You can ask Pinkie." Rainbow grinned and pointed at Pinkie Pie, who was dressed with a hawaiian shirt, shades, a camera hanging from her neck, and holding a suitcase with stamps reading 'Las Pegasus' and 'Saddle Arabia'.

"Mobius or Bust!" Pinkie said in excitement.

"If that thing doesn't work, we might get the 'bust' for real." Sweetie Belle, who was among the group, gulped a bit while Rarity calmed her down.

"Oh, don't worry, Sweetie. You know Twilight wouldn't even let us near that thing if she hadn't triple-checked it first." Rarity assured her.

"And I also triple-checked the triple check." Twilight nodded. "I admit... it wasn't easy without Spike."

"Don't worry, Twi; yah will see yahr little brother in a few moments." Applejack smiled at Twilight, knowing how hard this year was for the purple unicorn turned alicorn.

After Spike left, Twilight had to get used to living on her own. Obviously, Cadence and Shining Armor couldn't move in with her to the library, as they had their own obligations and private life, and even if her friends took turns to stay with her and help with the library's maintenance, Twilight still had problems to keep up with her studies and magical practices, along with the library's normal chores; Owlicious helped her a bit, but Twilight still had to hire occasional help for clean-up and buying her groceries.

"Don't worry, Twilight. I'll take care of the library while you visit Spike." Twilight turned to see her current assistant...

CRASH!

...right before she broke a window.

"OOPS. Sorry."

"Twilight, remind us why Derpy is the one taking care of your house." Rainbow questioned Twilight's choice, with good reasons.

"She works for muffins." Twilight sighed and shook her head. "Okay, the sooner we leave, the sooner we can see our friends... and the sooner we return before the library disappears."

CRASH!

"Sorry again."

"Uh... Twilight, you have insurance, right?" Apple Bloom asked Twilight, who simply nodded at her. She had just acquired an insurance policy against earthquakes, floods, and Derpy; the company's most used insurance ever.

The whole traveling group was composed of Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Braeburn (who just happened to visit Sweet Apple Acres those days), Babs Seed (who got invited by the other Cutie Mark Crusaders), Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Prince Blueblood, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Discord, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, Adam Warcolt and his brother, Drake Warcolt. Many ponies got a bit surprised that Discord was allowed to come, but Fluttershy had advanced a lot with him, and Celestia and Luna confirmed he was well-behaved enough by now; still, he would be under constant supervision, especially considering the stories the Mobians told the ponies during their stay in Equestria, concerning the existence of Chaos Emeralds in their world; 'chaos' and 'Discord' weren't a good combo.

Twilight and Adam activated the device, and soon a large portal appeared from thin air. The whole group entered, and a few moments later, they were in Knothole... that had changed a lot in this last year.

"Whoa... this place is impressive." Twilight commented.

"Yes... I know... Tails and Nicole often said their home was very technologically advanced, but this goes beyond their descriptions." Celestia added. Of course, the ponies had no way to know the Mobians had made further changes in Knothole, making it much more futuristic; in fact it was now called...

"New Mobotropolis..." Applebloom read from a nearby sign. "Are you sure we arrived at the right place?"

"Completely. I can even feel the Infinity Staff's power as we speak." Adam confirmed. "The Mobians are often improving their technology, and if having the Power Stone as an energy source, they surely can do it much faster and better now."

"Hmm... I think I kinda like this place. Lots of 'variety'; nothing against ponies, but it's nice to see other species." Discord grinned while looking around. By now, several citizens had already noticed them, and a few were contacting the authorities, yet everyone seemed to be friendly enough.

"Oh, hello..." Fluttershy addressed a little bunny girl. "Excuse us, but we came to visit some friends. We know Princess Sally and..."

"Oh, so you are the ponies, right?" The girl smiled at the yellow pegasus. "The dragons talk a lot about you all, and said that you would probably pay us a visit anytime now."

"That's right, Little One." Celestia now walked next to the bunny. "Do you know where can we see our friends?"

The girl started giving her a few directions while Drake gave Celestia a puzzled look.

"Why we need to ask for directions?"

"Yes, you're right. We're royalty." Blueblood agreed. "We should just be announced and..."

"Blueblood, Darling, it's not that easy." Rarity smiled at him before looking at Drake. "Remember we're not just ambassadors here, but we're also foreign species, and most Mobians had never seen anypony like us. Even if Spike and the other dragons have told the locals about us, they don't know several members of our group are royalty, not to mention that Sally herself, who's the Princess here, seems to have a very personal and mostly informal relationship with her people, so they'd treat us in an informal way unless it's a special occasion."

Drake and Blueblood seemed to understand it now; of course Cadence, Shining Armor, Luna, Adam and Celestia, used to informal dealing with non-royals, needed no explanation.

"Heh, a place where Celestia and Luna are treated like any daughter of neighbor... I like this place already." Discord grinned a bit at this.

At that moment, a loud noise was heard all over the city. All the Mobians got a scared expression while all the ponies and Discord got immediately alerted.

"Okaaaaay... before anypony starts pointing hooves, that wasn't me or my party cannon." Pinkie said.

"Let's go see what's going on. I don't think that's how they welcome visitors." Rainbow said before flying ahead of the group. The other ponies soon followed after her.

The ponies arrived at what seemed to be the city's hall, where a large group of Mobians were already crowding. Then, a large, royal-looking figure emerged from the building; he looked a lot like Daemon, even with the angel-like wings and armor, but with red and black tones instead of Daemon's black and silver; plus, his fur was a mix of black and intense red.

"This guy looks evil... a lot." Braeburn gulped a bit.

"Statement of the year, Cousin." Babs rolled her eyes at this but she was a bit scared herself.

"Hello, My Dear Mobians. I like what you did to your place; maybe I won't destroy it completely." The, by now obvious, villain grinned at the crowd. "I don't think all of you know me; let me introduce myself; I am Mandara."

"Great, here comes the villainous rant." Applejack rolled her eyes.

"Hope it's a good one; I'm qualifying him." Discord whispered while Luna and Celestia rolled their eyes.

"You Mobians, and mortals in general, tend to fool yourselves. You think you can be great, or important, or whatever, but the truth is, and you know it in your hearts, that the only thing you are good for is to serve those who are truly superior. You actually crave being dominated and ruled by someone with the power to do it. You want to live on your knees and looking up at the truly important ones. So, why don't you stop fooling yourselves with false delusions of importance and start to adore me?"

"And other ponies say I have an ego." Blueblood whispered to himself.

The Mobians then started kneeling, surprising the ponies, until Celestia realized that, through his speech, Mandara had been using a mind-control spell, and now it was working. The ponies weren't affected due to their own spellcasters and because Mandara wasn't targeting them directly unlike the Mobians.

"Okay, I think that's enough."

Mandara finally noticed the ponies, surprising himself a bit when Adam walked towards him.

"Looking up, uh? That's what you want? Well, not to guys like you." Adam looked at him defiantly.

"There are no guys like me, Stranger." Mandara frowned at him.

"There are always guys like you." Adam continued. "You see, from where we come from, we have seen others coming with similar speeches... and let me tell you, they usually don't end well."

"Gee, you think he thinks we'll not realize the indirect?" Discord whispered at Drake, even if they both agreed with Adam.

"Ending well, uh? Well... neither will you." Mandara charged a sphere of dark elemental power, and shot it at Adam... who deflected it with his own magic.

"You know magic." Mandara growled.

"And you are in trouble." Adam grinned and then raised a hoof to stop his friends, all of them getting ready to defend him now. The alicorn then moved a few steps back.

"Scared?" Mandara smirked.

"No, just giving him some space." Adam, casually, pointed at one side with his horn. Mandara, a bit puzzled, turned his head at that direction... and got hit by a flying shield.

"Hey, guys, if I knew you'd arrive today, I'd have a cake ready." Spike landed a few feet away from Mandara, catching back the shield. The ponies and Discord noticed he was considerably taller and more muscular, and the 'shield' was in reality the Infinity Staff changed into another weapon.

"Hi, Spike! Looking good." Twilight smiled at her 'little brother' while Rainbow grinned and pounded her front hooves together.

"Need some help with this clown, Spike?" The blue pegasus asked.

"Oh, no, please, allow me; you are my guests here. Let me take out the garbage so I can attend to you all properly later." Spike said to the group before turning back at Mandara.

"You, I've heard rumors about you; you're the Infinity Dragon I've been hearing about." Mandara smirked at him.

"And I've heard about you. You're Daemon's _ugly_ brother... Maybe I should warn you I have some experience at dealing with my friends' difficult siblings." Spike grinned while taking a battle stance. "Last time I faced one of those, we had an argument; it wasn't nice."

"Then, let's continue the tradition." Mandara then attacked Spike, who blocked the strike with his shield. Meanwhile, Celestia and the other alicorns/unicorns moved all the Mobians out of danger, with the rest of the group playing crowd control.

Mandara then created a large sword out of dark magic and continued striking at Spike, who kept dodging and blocking all the attacks. Then, the dragon kicked his body and threw the shield again, but this time Mandara caught it; however, before he could use it, Spike punched his face and grabbed the shield back, just in time to block another sword attack.

"Not bad for a mortal, but I'm surprised you, a dragon, not using fire to attack me." Mandara commented while attacking.

"Oh, you want dragon fire? No problem." Spike whistled. "Now, guys!"

Mandara looked up and saw Garble, Puff, Clud and Vex striking from the skies, breathing large flames over him. The ponies noticed they were all now wearing jackets and shoes, an obvious showing of them adapting to the native's culture, but also that they were all using swords. After they finished breathing fire on Mandara, the dragons aimed with their swords at him, and each weapon shot what seemed to be elemental energy; Garble's sword used Fire, Puff's wind, Clud's earth (it caused small tremors when hitting the ground), and Vex's water. Mandara was now doing an obvious effort to protect himself, as the combined forces were very similar to his brother's attacks.

"Hey, cool swords!" Scootaloo commented, watching in awe.

"Spike created them." Adam said without any doubt, recognizing the Infinity Stones' energies within the swords.

"You fools... this isn't enough to stop me..." Mandara growled while getting ready to fight back.

"Then, what about this?" Spike grinned. "I'm just a clone; the real Spike is coming."

Mandara was surprised at this, and, a moment later, realized this dragon was telling the truth, as some music announced the arrival of the real Spike, wearing high tech armor and flying towards him at high speed. Before Mandara could defend himself, Spike blasted him with energy coming from his gauntlets, a combination of the Infinity Stones' 'normal' magic with Mobian technological lasers.

Mandara fell down, now visibly injured, and Spike landed in front of him, aiming at the demon's head with both blasters and other armaments. Soon, the other Spike and the rest of the dragons surrounded him.

"Make your move, Cujo." Spike smirked at him.

"Oh, yeah, please, do it." Garble added, with a similar smirk. "Make our day."

Mandara was tempted to fight back, but he was too weak now. He had just escaped from the magical prison that had contained him until now, and his power wasn't back to its original levels; he intended to mind-control the Mobians and steal their life force to get back his energy, but the dragons had stopped him, and now he wasn't strong enough to even try escaping. The demon groaned and nodded, giving up; then, the shielded Spike used the Infinity Stones to summon a pair of handcuffs with runic symbols carved into them; when slapping them on Mandara, his powers were neutralized.

With Mandara captured, Spike finally could get back to normal, and greet the ponies and Discord in a more proper way; he had adopted an outfit consisting of a white jacket with red trims and a pair of green and yellow sneakers, plus keeping the Infinity Staff in the shape of a gauntlet. He had also grown up a bit, now being slightly taller than Sonic or Knuckles.

Daemon arrived shortly after that, and after greeting the ponies as well, he got in charge of transporting Mandara to the special prison Spike, Tails and Rotor designed for him. Even if Mandara could break free or escape the handcuffs, he wouldn't be able to fight his brother, who was at full power while Mandara himself was currently at his weakest point.

"Okay, business is over for now. So, how about I take you all to the castle we're living in now?" Spike said to the guests.

"That's great. You're teleporting us?" Babs asked him.

"Nah, I think you'd like a 'royal' transport better." Spike chuckled before taking out a technological device, a transponder, to call a large, technological carriage that instantly morphed into a moderately large aircraft, big enough for everypony to get in. The travelers were quite surprised by this, especially the youngsters.

"Can we get one of these back in Equestria?" The Cutie Mark Crusaders chorused.

"Girls, behave yourselves. You know it's not easy to have high technology at home; and if it needs repairing, it would be hard to get spare parts." Twilight explained them.

"Awwwww." The CMC (and Pinkie) groaned a bit at this.

Soon, Spike was piloting the aircraft, with the other dragons flying around it, and took it up to the sky. Celestia was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable and silent it was, barely making any noise while flying.

"You use the Power Stone to power up this machine, Spike?" Celestia asked him.

"No; most of the high tech here on Mobius works with power cells; they're like... mmm... batteries, or small energy packages. Depending on how much you use it, the battery can last from one to three months, unless I force it too much, like, going at top speed for a long time; in those cases, the energy is over in a few minutes." Spike confessed.

"It would be great to have one of these back at home." Rainbow agreed with the Crusaders. "That way, the unicorns and earth ponies would be able to visit pegasi cities regularly."

"Maybe we can talk with Tails so we can create batteries you can make in Equestria with your current technology level... Hey, look, we're here." Spike pointed out.

"Whoa... I must take a few ideas for my summer house." Blueblood said while admiring the castle. The others were just as excited, with the castle being as big as Celestia and Luna's in Canterlot, or Shining Armor and Cadence's in The Crystal Empire. It didn't seem to be 'high tech' like Mobotropolis, but as they got closer, the group could see it had some very advanced machinery, just hidden to keep up with the 'classic' castle image. It was more evident when Spike pushed a few buttons on the aircraft's controls, and opened a hidden hangar that lead right to a huge laboratory/garage.

"We keep all the big machines here, especially the vehicles." Spike explained to the group as they walked out of the aircraft. "Like that one, The X Tornado; it's Tails' 'baby'. He loves that plane."

"Whoa, I remember it from Sonic and Tails' stories." Rainbow looked at the plane in amazement. Even if it didn't look as 'futuristic' as Spike's ship, it was still the very first plane Rainbow Dash or any of the ponies had ever seen, and she was more than eager to see it in action. "You think Tails will let us use it?"

"Not without my supervision, Rainbow."

Everypony turned when hearing Tails' voice, a bit surprised it sounded deeper and somewhat artificial, as if talking through a microphone, but they were all (minus Spike) very surprised when realizing the one talking to them was a fox-shaped machine.

"T-Tails?" Fluttershy was the first one to talk.

"Yep, the one and only... just with more metal." The machine talked to them, his body language being identical to Tails. On a closer inspection, the ponies realized he definitely had the general Tails' shape, but with very drastic changes. His lower legs resembled white boots, while his forearms were white and cylindrical; instead of a muzzle, he had a flattened faceplate beneath his two blue eyes, with a gray plate of metal with triangular points on his forehead. His organic tails had become metallic rotors/wings that spun around to enable flight and the white fur on Tails' chest had also become a white plate below his neck.

"What happened to yah?" Applejack asked while carefully touching his shoulder, feeling Tails' new metallic skin.

"A 'roboticizer' accident." Tails shrugged. "Remember all the stories we told you guys about Robotnik?"

"If he did this to you, I like the guy already." Discord grinned yet gulped a bit when Fluttershy gave him an annoyed stare.

"Well, we had been working with his old technology, trying to find any useful thing and destroying those inventions that are nothing but trouble." Tails explained. "I got affected by the machine he used to transform Mobians into robots when I was testing it on some plants... Spike tried to talk me out of testing it until we had safe-proved it enough, but I was a bit too persistent..."

"Not to mention, 'stubborn'." Spike rolled his eyes before looking back at Twilight. "Seriously, Twi, why you super smart guys and gals are brilliant enough to do amazing things with science or magic, yet are thick-headed enough to ignore common sense?"

"Remind me to start a research paper on that." Twilight sighed, agreeing with Spike.

"Anyway, Spike was right. I didn't have enough safety measures, and instead of robotizing the plants, I ended up robotizing myself. Luckily, since the Roboticizer was already modified by Rotor and I, I didn't become a mindless machine, and I conserved my normal personality and free will, so, after some time, and using Spike's Reality and Power Stones, Rotor and I found a way to reverse the process. The point is, now I can change back-and-forth between this robotic form and my normal, original one; I often conserve the metallic look when working here in the lab/garage because, as a robot, I'm stronger and more resistant to damage, so I'm more suited for testing dangerous inventions with less risks." Tails finished.

"And it doesn't hurt?" Fluttershy asked him, while the CMC looked at Tails and touched his body, fascinated by his new looks.

"No... and that's one of the very few issues with this form. I don't feel pain, true, but I also have less 'sensory' feeling; I can analyze substances with my special sensors, but I can't taste food or smell anything. And I feel when you touch me, but I can't enjoy a caress, or a warm wind, or a fresh breeze. The point is, I'm very well protected when I'm a robot, but I can't really enjoy most of the simple yet nice things of life." Tails explained. Discord couldn't help but touch his own skin and cringe a bit while the fox continued; this was too close to how he felt when he was a stone statue, capable of seeing and hearing yet unable to move or enjoy something as simple as eating a sweet snack or just talking.

"That's why I change back to normal when I wanna eat or drink something, or when I just wanna spend a nice time with friends." Tails continued. "For example, now you guys are here, I'll go to the Roboticizer to change back to normal so we can have dinner before attending Spike and the Dragons Induction Ceremony into the wolf pack later."

"Okay, another question... why yah would want to turn into a robot in the first place? Yah say it helps yah work here, but Ah doubt that was yahr first idea." Applejack pointed out.

"For combat purposes." Shining Armor, being a career soldier, guessed correctly.

"Exactly. The robots' bodies are very resistant, and they have special weaponry." Tails explained while morphing his hands into cannons to illustrate his point. "But, of course, there are disadvantages, like the sensory deprivation and the fact most robots lack a mind of their own. That's why we worked on a Roboticizer that can allow us to turn ourselves into robots for extremely dangerous situations, and change back to normal when the crisis is over. I've actually joined Spike, Sonic and The Dragons in some missions; of course, I used to do that in the past as well, but now I can participate more actively in conflicts."

"So, you became... 200% more awesome?" Rainbow grinned at him.

"Not sure about what scale you use to measure 'awesomeness', but yeah, that's more or less the point." Tails chuckled while flying upward to high-five Rainbow Dash. "I'm glad that, out of all the senses I lack as a robot, I still have my sense of humor."

"And what do you shoot with these? Oh, you shoot parties?" Pinkie asked Tails while looking at his hand cannons.

"No, I shoot wind blasts." Tails chuckled a bit while using one of his cannons to produce a short yet still strong wind blast. It wasn't enough to cause any damage but still moved Pinkie back a couple of feet.

"Whoa. You shoot wind by the hands? Almost anypony else can only shoot it by the mouth and by..." Braeburn was cut by Rarity and Applejack's glare. "Oh, right; not in front of the fillies."

"Anyway, we'll show you around the place later. Now, I'm sure Sally and the others will be glad to see you all... and I want to introduce you all to the family's newest member." Spike smiled at his Equestrian friends.

"Newest... oh, my..." Twilight and several other ponies gasped and blushed in realization.

"Whoa, Sally and you had a baby?" Pinkie asked Spike, making the CMC and the other ponies who hadn't realized it yet to gasp as well. "I have to organize a birthday party!"

"Pinkie, calm down." Spike chuckled. "Yes, Sally and I have a daughter, but she's not a... naturally born one."

"Ah, you adopted." Princess Cadence smiled. "Very nice of both Sally and you, Spike."

"Thanks... well, it's not exactly an adoption. Anyway, you'll meet her now. Come on." Spike leaded the group out of the lab/working station, with Tails nodding at them and flying to the Roboticizer to get back to normal.

"Mmm... chaotic, demonic creatures... flying machines... metal-to-flesh transformations... Any chance I can stay here?" Discord grinned. "This looks like my type of place."

"We'll consider it, Discord. No offense, but I doubt you're fully reformed, and therefore still not good enough to let you stay here... unless you don't mind being supervised by Spike and Sally's friends instead of Fluttershy and I." Celestia gave Discord a little smirk. The formerly magical chaotic being sighed and rolled his eyes; he knew the main reason Celestia allowed him to come was because she didn't want to leave him unsupervised when pretty much everypony that could handle him if he got troublesome again when leaving Equestria.

The group didn't have to walk too much to find another friend. Nicole, dressed in a red and black Oriental-like dress, greeted them almost immediately after they left the laboratories.

"My friends, it's so nice to see you all again." Nicole smiled at them. The ponies were quite happy to see her again (and Discord dissimulated it well), especially Rarity, who simply loved the dress and was already having a thousand ideas for similar designs when returning home.

"How have you been, Nicole?" Twilight, who due to their work together was one of the ponies closest to Nicole, did a little hoof-to-hoof handshake with her; Nicole using her powers to mimic a hoof.

"Very good, thanks for asking, Twilight. How have you been doing? Did you get yourself another assistant?"

"More or less... but trust me, Spike is pretty much irreplaceable." Twilight rolled her eyes while smiling at Spike. "I left Derpy at home watching over the library... and I left Owlicious to watch over Derpy."

"Gee, poor owl; taking care of Derpy?" Spike groaned before looking at Adam. "And here I thought that finding all the Infinity Stones would be the hardest thing ever; compared to Owlicious' job, it's a picnic."

"We're having a picnic, Dad?"

Everypony, plus Spike, Nicole and Discord, looked up when hearing a voice that was too similar to Sally's, just much more youthful. Up in the sky and approaching them, a cute furry gal, that looked a lot like Sally, flew towards them, thanks to jet-like boots. Her outfit was also very similar to Tails' metallic skin, except that it was blue, black and silver.

"Guys and gals, meet Ally." Spike, smiling, made the proper introduction. Rainbow grinned and flew up to meet the little girl.

"Hi, Ally! Hey, cool boots."

"Hello, Miss Pony. Cool wings." Ally and Rainbow made a fist-hoof bump.

"Heh, thanks, but I'm Rainbow Dash, not 'Miss Pony'..."

"I know. Dad talks a lot about you all." Ally grinned at her.

"Okay, it's official, I like this gal already." Rainbow smirked and looked back at the group as she and Ally finally landed.

"I think I can recognize you all from my Dad's stories." Ally quickly identified everypony, but stopped when looking at Discord. "Mmm... and this one, is... 'Mischief'? 'Chaos'? 'Irresponsibility'?"

"Discord, girl, Discord." The guy frowned at her before Ally grinned again. "Wait, you were kidding, right?"

"What can I say? She spends too much time around Sonic." Spike rolled his eyes.

"One thing; are you wearing some sort of armor?" Rainbow asked Ally. "When I did the hoof-fist thing with you, I noticed your hand felt a bit too hard... even with those gloves of yours."

Ally's mood changed slightly, looking a bit more serious and even slightly shy.

"Uh... Did Rainbow say something to make you feel uneasy about something?" Fluttershy asked the girl.

Ally was trying to find the words to explain herself when Spike calmed her by gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You can show them, Sweetheart; they're family." Spike smiled at her before looking back at the Equestrians. "You see, when I said Ally wasn't our 'natural born' daughter, I wasn't talking about adoption... She's a cybernetic organism."

"Okaaaay... and for those here who don't speak 'techno-sciency-thingy'?" Braeburn arched an eyebrow at this.

"Ally is a robot... similar to Tails' metallic form, but with the difference that she was born this way." Spike explained. "In fact, she's using an holographic distortion field belt so you guys can see her as a normal Mobian... basically, it's like a magic that creates a very convincing image." The purple dragon continued, realizing some of the Equestrians wouldn't get the technological terms.

"You mean, that, what we're seeing isn't her true form?" Applebloom asked before she and the CMC (and Pinkie) grinned. "Great!"

"Can we see your true form, Ally?" Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell chorused.

"Pretty-pretty-pretty please with a cherry on top?" Pinkie joined the 'petition' group, before taking out a cherry-filled chimichanga. "Or maybe with a 'cherri-changa'?"

"Uh... well, I don't eat, Pinkie... I get my energy from a crystal heart my Dad made for me; it also helps me have real emotions." Ally smiled while touching her own chest. "I'll show it to you... but first I have to deactivate the hologram distortion field."

While Ally pressed some buttons on her belt, Cadence, Twilight, Luna and Celestia gave Spike a knowing smile each, realizing this Crystal Heart was surely the same one Spike created back in Ponyville by using Cadence's cutie mark as a reference. After a few seconds, the holographic disguise was gone, and Ally now looked a lot like a shorter roboticized version of Sally, similar to Tails' new secondary form.

"Whoa." Most of the Equestrians watched in awe while Celestia and Luna gave Ally a good look.

"The Crystal Heart isn't the only 'extra' you gave her, is it, Spike?" Celestia asked him.

"You're right. Ally, can you..." Spike said to his 'daughter', who immediately showed her back to the group. Spike opened a compartment and everypony and Discord could see a golden power ring. "This ring allows Ally to have her own personality and prevents her from losing her free will to any outside control."

Ally nodded and then showed her chest to the group, opening another compartment to show them the Crystal Heart. Almost immediately, Twilight, Luna and Celestia felt an energy very similar to the Elements of Harmony; obviously, Spike wanted Ally to be as close to a normal, flesh-and-bone daughter as possible, so her heart gave her qualities like Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty; all of those combined, plus the power ring, and the friendship and love she surely received from her family would provide the final element, Magic.

"Wait... so, the flight boots... they're not boots, right? They're part of your feet!" Rainbow guessed correctly.

"You got it right. Whoa, Dad was right; you ponies are pretty smart." Ally commented.

"Heh, you had any doubt?" Rainbow smirked.

"Sorry; most of the Mobian horses aren't that smart. The only one I know has to hit the ground to count." Ally rolled her metallic eyes. "In his defense, having hooves, he can't use his 'fingers' to count."

"What other things do you have besides the flight boot-feet-whatever?" Pinkie asked again.

"Since I have no 'organic' form, Tails and Rotor could add several defense systems on me without causing me any pain." Ally explained while a pair of sword-like energy blades appeared on her forearms; she retracted them a moment later. Then, a little cannon appeared from one of her locks of hair on the top of her head; Spike, realizing she wanted to make a demonstration, used the Reality Stone to create a pair of discs, and threw them up so Ally could shoot them to pieces with a laser beam. Finally, Spike threw another disc at her, and it crashed before even touching Ally, thanks to a force field generator that immediately got Shining Armor's interest.

"That's my girl; but please, do not tell Queen Alicia and King Maximillian Acorn that I let their granddaughter fire a weapon indoors, especially in the castle." Spike chuckled before getting a bit serious. "Everypony, look at me; not a word."

"Mmm... and how much are you willing to pay for me to keep that a secret?" Discord grinned at Spike.

"That depends, how attached are you to your horns, Draconequus?" Spike frowned at him as he used the Reality Stone to make a katana sword appear, and pointed it at Discord.

"Okay, I'll take the offer, sheesh, you little psychopath." Discord couldn't help but cover his horns and gulp a bit.

"Now, now, Spike, threatening him with physical violence is not the way to handle this situation." Fluttershy said to the purple dragon, who just sighed and made the katana disappear. "Discord will behave properly out of kindness and friendship."

Discord couldn't stop himself from moaning at this.

"Fluttershy, why you have to talk like that? Seriously, every time you do that, I can't misbehave without feeling like a... uh..."

"A cockroach? A two-legged rat? A pest?" Pinkie grinned.

"Thanks, Pinkie Pie." Discord frowned at the pink pony, who simply smiled in reply.

"You forgot Butensky." Said an unfamiliar voice.

"Nah, I was reserving that one for the finale, Pee Wee..." Pinkie stopped talking and then took out a glass of water to drink a bit and do a spit-take... drenching Discord. "PEE WEE?"

The group looked at Pee Wee, who now looked slightly bigger, but, more surprisingly, was capable of talking, something normal Equestrian phoenixes couldn't do. Nicole smiled and allowed Pee Wee to rest on her head for a moment .

"Yes, he is Pee Wee." Nicole explained. "Spike used the Reality Stone to give him the ability to talk."

"It was a fair deal." Spike chuckled while Pee Wee was now flying over the group and taking turns to land on everypony's head as a greeting way. "After all, most species here on Mobius can talk, and Pee Wee is as much part of the family as Ally, so him talking makes it easier to communicate with him... Besides, I didn't want to end doing the 'Who' thing again like I did with Owlicious."

"Heh, but he's a phoenix, not an owl." Twilight chuckled as Pee Wee landed on her head.

"Yeah, but I spent so much time with Owlicious back at home that I was learning 'Owl' better than 'Equestrian'... or 'Ponynglish', or Mobian, or whatever language we talk." Pee Wee explained to Twilight. The purple unicorn noticed Pee Wee seemed to have a very good vocabulary despite his short age, probably from living in a library for such a long time and hearing Spike and herself talking, plus whatever education he was receiving now on Mobius.

"Anyway, Sally must know by now that you ponies are here, so let's go with her already." Spike chuckled as he and the group finally entered the palace's main room. Sally was already there, using her stretching powers to check out the ceilings and walls.

"Hey, Sal, look who's here." Spike smiled at his beloved.

"Good to see you all." Sally, quite happy, jumped down and changed her looks to a more royal one, long dress and crown included. The alicorns understood this immediately, and they all made a very respectful bowing at Sally, who bowed back in return before changing to her usual attire and having a more informal greeting with the ponies.

"Royalty rules, uh?" Twilight smirked at Sally as they hugged.

"Yep, they must be respected everywhere, even in other dimensions." Sally chuckled.

"What were you doing up there?" Rainbow asked Sally, referring to her previous wall-crawling.

"Oh, we're adding a new electric system to the palace, plus other technological features, but I have to see if they work properly without messing with the palace's classic look." Sally explained. "We might be more technologically advanced than you ponies, but we still want our place to look natural and homely. And I have to check it all now because we're leaving to the Wolfpack Nation in a while."

"Great, we can visit Lupe, Lobo and all the others!" Applebloom said in excitement. Due to Lobo and Lupe spending a lot of time in Sweet Apple Acres when they first visited Equestria, the wolves became closer to the Apples than with most of the other ponies.

"It's more than a visit, Applebloom." Spike now explained. "Besides celebrating your visit, we're gonna attend an induction ceremony."

"Uh... and what's that?" Braeburn asked, a bit surprised.

"Ah, it's like when you enter a club, right?" Babs grinned, remembering her own induction into the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"Heh, more or less, Babs, but in this case, the inducted ones will become official members of the Wolfpack Nation, like Sally and the others." Spike pointed out.

"You're getting inducted, Spike?" Now it was Adam's turn to ask.

"Yeah, and I'm not the only one; all the other dragons are getting inducted too." Spike continued.

"Garble and his group, uh? Nice." Shining Armor grinned while the other ponies nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, besides being a very big honor, it's also a necessity, since only pack members, regardless of species, can marry other pack members." Spike pointed out.

"Ooooooh... like you and Sally, uh?" Rainbow smirked and elbowed a blushing Spike.

"Heh, you're right, Dad; I like this pony already." Ally chuckled at this while Sally rolled her eyes and continued.

"Also, Leeta and Lyco want to get married to Shakes and Fumes already, and they can only do it if they're official members. And of course, since the rest of the dragons are pretty much family by now too, they also want to get inducted." Sally said while guiding the group to a large dining room. "We'll just have a light snack now because we're having dinner there tonight, to celebrate the induction."

"You got me when you said 'celebrate'." Pinkie grinned while taking out her party cannon. "Good thing I brought this."

Sally and Spike chuckled, more than happy to see a bit of Pinkie's crazy sense of humor, as the group finally got to eat. Since ponies didn't use chairs, Sally got most of them removed, and only the Mobians plus Spike and Discord used the ones left. The lunch was mostly uneventful, except for Discord trying to animate the dishes... and then groaning in frustration when remembering he no longer had magical powers. The chat focused mostly on Spike's new life in Mobius, but the purple dragon also had a million questions for his pony friends... the main one being 'Twilight, were you in your right mind when you hired Derpy as an assistant?', a question Twilight herself was still trying to answer herself.

After lunch, Sally excused herself to go to her room and change her outfit; even if she could always morph her body and clothing, Sally still used normal outfits for special occasions; in this case, a greenish-blue, shoeless harem dancer-tribal dress mix-up, that showed her sexy body quite well, as Spike's huge grin proved. Rarity proposed that she and the other ponies should wear special outfits as well, since they'd be attending the induction ceremony too; unfortunately, most of the Mobian clothing wasn't fit for four-legged-walking ponies, so they set up with just minor accessories.

Garble and the other dragons were already at the hangar when Spike, Sally and the rest of the group finished getting ready themselves.

"Hey, Princess, looking good." Garble grinned at Sally before turning at Spike. "And you won't let me lie, uh, Spike?"

"In the immortal words of Big Macintosh... E-Nope." Spike chuckled.

"Why you guys didn't have lunch with us?" Sweetie Belle asked the dragons.

"We had to finish our patrolling before leaving." Puff informed her. "Even if this place is mostly pacific, we still have to patrol it regularly, just in case."

"Well, we're ready to go." Tails, back in his furry shape, said to the group. "I'll take the X Tornado..."

"AND WE'RE GOING WITH YOU!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pinkie chorused. The group's adults chuckled and nodded, with Rainbow offering herself to fly alongside the plane.

"... and the rest can take Spike's craft." Tails nodded at the purple dragon, who nodded back and used his Infinity Gauntlet on his ship to make it large enough for the group, that this time also included the other dragons.

"Hey, I just realized something; where's Sonic?" Rainbow asked to nopony (or no Mobian) in particular.

"He's doing some patrolling too." Vex told her. "He's probably stuffing himself on chili dogs before going to the Wolf Pack Territory by himself."

"That wouldn't surprise me." Fiona entered the hangar at that moment, with Amy right behind her. The ponies greeted them and asked why they didn't join for lunch.

"I was getting my outfit for the ceremony too." Amy explained while showing everyone a box. "Give me a moment and I'll be ready to go."

Fiona then used her powers to mimic Sally's outfit while Amy went inside a little room inside the hangar; after a minute or so, she was dressed up with a pink and red version of Sally's dress. Now everypony and Mobian was ready to go.

Tails opened the hangar's doors, and a few minutes later both flying machines left at high speed, with Rainbow having a nice time flying aside the Tornado X; due to being an 'open' plane, the pilot and passengers could feel the wind while flying and have a much better view of the territory.

After a while of flying, Rainbow looked down to enjoy the view, and grinned when looking at a blue blur running right under them. The multicolored pegasus nodded at Tails, who had already detected the 'blur' too, and a moment later she was diving down.

"Hey, Sonic, heads up!"

"Hey, Rainbow, looking good!" Sonic chuckled while looking up at his speedster colleague. "When did you guys arrive?"

"A while ago." Rainbow grinned at him. "I'd like racing you to the Wolf Nation, but I don't know my way around here; you have too much of an advantage."

"We can race later. Just follow me and we'll be there in no time... if you can keep up with me." Sonic grinned before accelerating. Rainbow smirked and flew faster, soon getting right aside Sonic; they'd both be able to move even faster, but, as the pegasus had confessed, she didn't know this territory at all, so depended on the locals, like Sonic or the airships' pilots, to show her the way; still, Sonic and Rainbow arrived to the Wolf Nation at least 5 minutes before the airships, which happened to be a good thing since they could tell Lupe and the others to prepare a quick welcome for them, mostly a few fireworks, plus setting up the landing area; the wolves have set up one large enough for Spike's aircraft, but now they'd need a slightly larger one to accommodate the Tornado X as well.

"My friends, it is wonderful to see you again." Lupe greeted the ponies as they walked down the aircrafts. She then arched an eyebrow at Discord. "And you brought him here because..."

"He's on parole." The Mane Six chorused.

"And Fluttershy here is my parole officer." Discord rolled his eyes. "At least she's a nicer company than Shining Armor."

"Don't start that again, Draconequus." Shining Armor frowned slightly at Discord.

"Whoa, we're back to calling each other by our surnames, Officer?" Discord said in a very dramatic and obviously fake hurt tone. "And here I thought you were trusting me now. Oh, yeah, the society, once again, keeps the oppressed species... well, oppressed."

A sad violin music was then heard.

"Pinkie Pie, not helping." Twilight frowned at Pinkie, the one playing the violin.

"What? I have to practice my lessons." Pinkie shrugged.

"Three questions, Pinkie; one, where do you keep your 'everything' you use all the time? Two, how do you play a violin without fingers? And three... it's that a Stradivarius?" Lobo, who, as usual, was next to Lupe, arched an eyebrow at Pinkie.

"The answers are... No idea myself; I find my way; and no, it's a violin." Pinkie grinned.

A collective face-palm/hoof (and a good laugh from Discord) later, the ceremony's preparations continued. Shakes and Fumes were nowhere in sight since they were with Leeta and Lyco, hanging around in private before the ceremony; Discord guessed this 'hanging around' involved a constant facial contact.

Lupe and Lobo were discussing some aspects of the ceremony with the alicorns and Twilight when one of the pack's sentinels arrived in an obvious hurry but trying to be as discreet as possible.

"Excuse me... for interrupting... but... I think... we have two problems..." The sentinel took some deep breaths; he then jumped in fear when Pinkie popped from behind him.

"Not enough balloons for the party, and we need more cake? I can solve both."

"Thanks, Pinkie, but let him talk first." Lobo said to the pink mare while Lupe and Twilight comforted the still scared sentinel.

"Don't worry; Pinkie does that all the time." Twilight sighed. "Still, she's lovable. And friendly. And yes, we all like having her around. Most of the time."

"Aw, thanks, Twily!" Pinkie hugged the purple alicorn in her usual childish way, while Twilight just made a silent sign to the others, pretty much saying 'Continue with your things while I distract Pinkie'.

"Right... the message... Some of our sentinels... saw two intruders at the northeast part of the territory." The sentinel wolf took a deep breath. "Drago and Razorklaw."

Lupe and Lobo frowned at this, while the ponies arched an eyebrow each.

"Uninvited, unwanted guests?" Adam asked the wolf leaders.

"Very unwanted. Drago is a renegade wolf while Razorklaw is a very violent lynx; a disgraced warrior from our neighbor tribe. And they both have cybernetic limbs that make each of them more dangerous and powerful than a whole group of normal warriors, so you can imagine how bad it is when they're teaming up." Lupe explained.

"I'll take a group of warriors and some Freedom Fighters to deal with them while you continue with the ceremony." Lobo proposed.

"We can provide some assistance. These warriors are obviously used to facing Mobians, but they have no experience against Pony Magic." Celestia suggested.

"Thanks for your offer, Princess Celestia, but you ponies are our guests, and we'd like to attend this issue ourselves. However... you make a good point. They're not used to battle magical opponents." Lupe pondered about this for a moment before getting a little grin. "Lobo, take just a couple of sentinels, and only one Freedom Fighter."

"Spike." Lobo and Lupe chorused while grinning at each other.

A few moments later, Spike was already aware of the situation. Since he also wanted to continue helping with the ceremony, plus it would be suspicious for him to leave, the dragon cloned/divided himself in two, so one Spike could stay and the other could go with the search party. To distract everyone so they wouldn't notice Spike doing this, plus giving Sally and Lupe more time to explain him the whole situation, Lobo called the ponies and Discord to show them a little extra he had recently acquired.

"Daemon gave me the capacity to summon wings similar to his own. Heh, pretty much, it's the divine equivalent of a son-in-law giving his father-in-law a present." Lobo half joked while raising a small mace that immediately started glowing with the very same energy that usually came out of Daemon's mace, and a pair of large, silver and blond colored wings appeared on his back; obviously, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pinkie were the most excited about this, while Rainbow and the alicorns, being (obviously) experts when it came to wings, gave them a good check-up.

"Hey, neat... how fast can you fly?" Rainbow asked while checking the wingspan.

"Well, I fly a bit slower than Daemon; not a big surprise since, obviously, he has more experience at flight." Lobo told her. "Anyway, Spike and I are gonna give a last check-up with the sentinels before the ceremony, so I'm using the wings now. Normally, I don't use them when I'm gonna stay on foot for a long time; remember we wolves have no clothings, buildings or furniture adapted to winged creatures; even Daemon has a few problems at times because his wings keep knocking things down."

"Heh, yeah, it's one of the first things we alicorns and pegasi have to learn." Drake rolled his eyes. "I lost count of all the vases and jars I broke when I was a teen."

"And we all have lost count of all the things Derpy continues breaking." Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, we better get going."One of the Spikes finally joined the group, using his Reality Stone to create his dragon wings. "My other half is gonna stay to help with the ceremony, but we'll try to get back soon anyway."

Adam, fully aware of what was really going on, frowned a bit when realizing Spike had divided the Stones' powers when dividing himself, meaning each clone only had half of the Infinity Staff's power. He then smiled a bit when remembering Spike was already used to divide the power and still defeat his enemies, plus he would be working alongside Lobo and other equally well-trained warriors. A moment later, Spike and Lobo, both carrying a pair of sentinels (including the one that gave the message), flew out and away from the village.

After flying for a few minutes, the sentinel pointed at the area where Drago and Razorclaw had been spotted. Spike and Lobo landed, and then they started sniffing the air, trying to locate the villains; his time with the Mobian wolves had been a great chance for Spike to train his senses.

"I smell a wolf that way. Not any wolf I've met recently, or in a long time." Spike pointed at his left.

"That must be Drago. It seems he and Razorklaw split up; and I can smell the lynx's scent that way." Lobo pointed at the opposite direction. "I'll take the sentinels with me to track down Razorklaw. You go get Drago."

Spike nodded, understanding why Lobo didn't want his wolves to fight Drago; being a traitor, Drago was greatly resented and even hated by many Mobian wolves, and they'd probably attack him right on sight, despite knowing about Drago's cybernetic enhancements and therefore running a bigger risk; with Razorklaw, despite the traditional rivalry with the feline tribes, the wolves would be more careful and keep their cool when finding him. Also, despite both villains having superweaponry, Lobo's new flight capacity and magical mace, added to his own fighting abilities and the support of his warriors, would make him a more than worthy opponent for the lynx even without Spike's help.

The purple dragon separated from the wolves and started tracking down the cybernetically enhanced renegade wolf. Despite his metallic limbs, Drago's warrior training still made him a stealthy fighter plus he had his own trained, enhanced senses, so locating him wasn't easy at all. Spike had to search for almost half an hour before a breathing sound alerted him.

"Okay, Drago, get down here." Spike looked up a tree, and a moment later, Drago emerged from the foliage, hanging from the branches like a large, muscular ape.

"Well, well, well, look who's here. If it isn't Princess Sally's little pet."

"Drago, you better make this easy for all of us. You know why I'm here; you're a traitor, a renegade, an exile..."

"... a burglar, a bad guy in general, and I don't brush my teeth after eating." Drago replied mockingly while finally landing in front of Spike, looking down at the dragon. "So, you're the great Infinity Dragon I've been hearing about for the past year."

"And you're a deluded sociopath." remarked Spike.

"I missed you back in New Mobotropolis," Spike frowned slightly, referencing a previous encounter.

"No you didn't; you got me good." Drago flexed one of his arms, revealing a now-repaired hole in his cybernetic limb.

"Let's cut to the chase. Lupe and Lobo want me to take you back to the Wolves' Village, and get you caged so we can take you to New Mobotropolis' prison; if possible, peacefully, and maybe try to analyze your cybernetic limbs, so we can use their technology for peaceful purposes, like, prosthetics for our soldiers who lose their limbs in battle."

Spike frowned as Drago jumped over him and leaned on his shoulder.

"Oh, I bet they would." Snarled Drago with a sadistic look on his face.

"Personally, I'd skip the 'peaceful' part and just beat you up and drag you back unconscious, but let's make this your decision, shall we?"

"Mmmm... Do lets..." Drago rubbed his chin, pretending to think about the whole deal until he threw a hard punch at Spike's head. The dragon received it and rolled in mid-air, landing on his feet and ready for battle.

Drago tried to punch Spike, who blocked and kicked him away. Despite the impact's power, Drago had enhanced himself since last time they fought, so now he was much stronger and could stand these and harder attacks.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Drago charged at Spike, who started morphing his staff into something resembling a chainsaw. Then, Drago surprised him when his cybernetic arms produced what seemed to be an energy field; Drago then jumped on top of him and trapped Spike under the dome.

"Heh, you like the new 'extras' I added to my cybernetic parts?" Drago cackled. "I know you can chew your way through solid rock and diamonds, but this is solid energy! And..."

Drago stopped talking when hearing loud, digging/sawing noises coming from under the dome. He thought about disappearing it to get a clear look, but realized he'd need it to trap Spike again if the dragon charged at him, so the villain just lifted the dome and growled when seeing a large hole in the ground.

"You digged your way out..." Drago soft growled, not noticing that Spike was actually hidden under the dome's ceiling, and looking down at him. Then, Spike jumped down, and used his saw on Drago's right arm; the wolf howled/yelled in surprise and anger, and the dome disappeared as his arm fell to the ground.

"Now, unless you wanna lose the other..." Spike growled at Drago but stopped when Drago grabbed him by the collar with his remaining hand and threw him up at the closest tree top.

"You are not gonna..." Drago yelled when a harpoon/grappling hook hit his body; Spike had morphed the staff again, this time into a grappling gun with a line attached, and then the dragon pulled up Drago with all his might... maybe a bit too much, because Drago flew up, way over the trees and far away.

"Oops. My bad." Spike half-chuckled before summoning his wings again and flying after Dragon.

Meanwhile, Lobo and his warriors had already found Razorklaw, and were in the middle of a fierce battle. The lynx had the edge in strength and speed, plus he had upgraded himself just like Drago, but Lobo was giving him a very good fight with his flying ability and magical mace, and the two sentinels provided him with a very good back-up, so the combat was pretty even.

"You are doing good, Lobo, I admit it, but I'm gonna rip-off those wings of yours, and then I'm going to make you eat that mace..." Razorklaw stopped talking when hearing a howling noise. "What the..."

WHAM!

Drago landed right on top of Razorklaw, injuring them both. Lobo, grinning, lost no time and used his mace to summon a powerful lightning attack, hitting the villains at full force. Spike landed next to him a moment later.

"Keep them like that for a moment, Lobo." Spike grinned while calling the sentinels to stand next to him. "Time to show them what happens when you combine the Time and Space Stones' powers." Spike grinned while a little energy dome covered them all, courtesy of said Stones. "Teleportation!"

Back at the wolves' village, the ceremony was almost ready to start. Basically, they were just waiting for Lobo to arrive; being the wolves' co-leader, his participation was pretty important, and his absence was making the dragons a bit nervous, since they were all eager to become part of the pack as soon as possible.

"Don't worry. I know Lobo; he always arrives on time." Lupe smiled at the dragons.

A split second later, a blinding light appeared in the middle of the village, and when it disappeared, revealed Lobo, Spike, the sentinels and the villains.

"Whoa. Your husband doesn't like making you a liar, uh?" Discord grinned, enjoying this little surprise.

"Heh... hey, Drago, need a hand?" Garble joked when noticing the cybernetic wolf's injuries.

"Hey, Lobo, Spike, joking aside, you guys need a hand?" Sonic asked his friends as the blue hedgehog, the ponies, dragons and the villagers got ready to assist in the battle.

"Thanks, Sonic, but we've got this covered." Spike grinned before whistling at his other half (the other Spike, not Sally); both Spikes fused back together a second later, meaning the dragon had full power again.

"What? More dragons... or whatever?" Razorklaw, recovering partially from the last attacks, groaned when spotting Discord and the ponies.

"This is getting overcrowded." Drago groaned, realizing that now he and Razorklaw had lost the element of surprise and weren't in the best conditions for a long battle. "I'm out of here!"

Drago activated another new enhancement of his; hyper-speed. However, when he tried to escape, he was quickly stopped by Sonic and Rainbow Dash standing in his way, and then hitting him full force, Sonic with super fast punching and Rainbow with a hyper-fast double kick, sending him back against Razorklaw.

"Ow! Again?" Razorklaw groaned. "This is becoming a running gag or what?"

"Oh-oh-oh, do it again!" Pinkie said in excitement. "Rule of three!"

"Heh, in a moment, Pinkie." Spike grinned as he had another idea. "Mmm... this would be better with some background music."

Spike used his Reality Stone to create exactly that, background music, as he charged at the villains. The purple dragon started doing quick martial arts moves, punching and kicking Drago and Razorklaw while dodging all of their attacks with ease; the villains tried to coordinate themselves, but the fact they were still surrounded by their enemies (meaning this was a lost battle anyway) and that Spike was now getting access to Sonic and Rainbow's minds, with their permission, meaning he was getting an insight on high-speed-battling, was a combination they couldn't beat, with Spike seeing all their moves in slow motion and connecting all his attacks with ease. The moment the song ended, both villains were barely conscious; Spike then stopped and morphed his Infinity Staff into a pistol-like device.

"Well, guys, I hate to do this, but since it's obvious you two are gonna be a pain in our tails while you still have those cybernetic limbs, maybe you should lose them. Tails, may I..?"

"Go ahead, Spike." Tails grinned while concentrating on his Roboticizer's design and basic mechanisms. Spike used the Mind Stone to connect himself to Tails' brain, and used his knowledge to modify his pistol, until it was pretty much a portable version of the Roboticizer, powered up by the Power Stone.

Spike shot both villains, who yelled in surprise and pain as their cybernetic limbs were changed into organic ones. A few seconds later, they were 100% flesh and bone.

"Our... arms... and... our power..." Razorklaw gasped when looking at himself.

"No... you didn't..." Drago growled.

"Hey, look on the bright side; you got your arm back." Spike grinned.

"And I'm using it for this!" Drago, furious, tried to punch Spike, but the dragon caught his fist with ease.

"Drago... stop. You don't wanna get your new arms broken, right?" Spike grinned at him.

"You... stupid lizard... you don't deserve this power... You are nothing but an overgrown pet that got lucky... You don't deserve to be a hero, or a warrior, or to be a princess' boy toy... Without your stones, you're nothing..." Drago snapped at Spike while still trying to break free from his grip.

"Yeah, I'm lucky; but I worked hard to get what I have. You don't think I got these stones in a cereal box, right?" Spike smirked at him.

"You can't. I already tried." Pinkie chuckled while taking a cereal box out of nowhere. However, this didn't stop Drago from talking.

"Nnnngh... whatever... the only reason you became a hero and a princess' boy toy was because some girl in your world broke your heart after she chose a prince over you." Drago frowned, still trying to get free.

Rarity frowned at this, hating whenever anypony (or whatever) reminded her of all the heartache she gave Spike; Blueblood felt very uncomfortable as well... and Spike frowned too, hating himself for making that part of his life pretty much public knowledge after he moved to Mobius.

"You know what, you're right, but, guess what? I got over it, because I learned to accept it and move on. And you know what?" Spike now grinned. "Rule of three."

Spike swung Drago around, still holding him by his hand, and threw him back at Razorklaw, who had no time to even try dodging, and got hit again. Spike grinned and approached the two fallen villains.

'Oh, and one last thing, Drago."

"What!?" Drago, in very bad shape by now, looked up at Spike.

"Punch in the face." Spike yelled as he punched Drago in the face and knocked him out... and also knocked out Razorklaw, since the lynx's head was right behind Drago's, and when the wolf's head was sent back by the punch, it hit the feline's head as well.

"Heh, that counts as Double Knockout, or single knockout with collateral damage?" Ally chuckled at the scene.

"We'll let the judges decide that later." Sonic joked back.

The whole village cheered on Spike, and a moment later Sally stretched herself to hug him and give her beloved a very long, passionate kiss. Once the excited Mobians and Equestrians calmed down a bit, the villainous duo were carried to a cell so the ceremony could finally start; Allly and Daemon offered themselves to carry the villains, since they could fly and do it a lot faster.

The dragons got in line in front of Lupe and Lobo, all of them ready now for the ceremony. Once the first steps of the ceremony were done, Sally, behind the dragons, morphed her clothing again, this time having long white gloves and showing a good section of the arms as she did the outfit sleeveless. She also changed the mid-section, so her athletic waist and abdominal muscles were visible, and shortened her pants while making her boots to cover the most part of the legs. Finally, she made her hair to grow a lot more, giving herself an overall sexier, wilder look, as her 'royal', more formal duties were now fulfilled and she felt like getting a more natural, wild appearance; Spike didn't mind at all.

The ceremony continued, and all the dragons received a little feather in their heads, a symbol of officially getting accepted in the pack. Then, they all took turns to touch a large artifact, similar to a purple gem (the dragons had to pause for a moment to remind themselves it wasn't dinner), with Shakes and Fumes being the first ones, as they were, by now, more than used to the wolves' ways plus having already focused themselves on not eating the artifact; and then all the dragons, and Lupe (the one holding the gem and directing this part of the ceremony) howling in a perfect chorus, completing the induction; the whole village, including the ponies, Discord and the other Freedom Fighters, joined in the howling... and Babs Seed wore a wolf disguise, provided by Pinkie Pie, while howling much louder than the other Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"We really need to discuss your canine instincts when we get back to Equestria." Apple Bloom grinned at her cousin, who just shrugged and continued howling.

After a few minutes of howling, the celebration started officially; the Mane Six felt quite comfortable with the wolves, due to the time Lupe, Lobo, the twins, Daemon and Maria had spent at Equestria plus the fact the village reminded them a lot of the Appleloosa's buffalos' town. Pinkie, not surprisingly, was wearing a buffalo-inspired outfit while dancing and playing with some of the youngest wolves; no matter the place or dimension, she would always be one of the kids.

After a while of regular dancing and celebration, the dragons decided to do something special for the villagers and, of course, their respective couples. They all got together and started singing, with Ally directing them; obviously, they had been rehearsing this for a while now.

Garble: Woah Oooh

Spike: Celebration

Garble: All this talk about being in love

I could never get into the party

Puff: Never really understood what it was

Like what's the big deal anyway?

Spike: Oh, but I decided I should give it a try

The very moment that you gave me the invite

I've never seen anything like it before

Once you open the door

See I was like…

Altogether: Oh yeah yeah don't get any better

Oh yeah yeah wish that this was forever

Your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling

And it's a celebration,

Feels like a celebration

Cause your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling down, down, down.

Clud: And everybody's gonna make an appearance

Even the butterflies came, what a feeling.

Fumes: And then bliss came with Mr. First-Kiss

It was better than they ever explained it

Vex: I think I even saw Cupid flying 'round

I caught a glimpse before the lights went down

Shakes: And when I turn to see the stars in your eyes I realize…

And I was like

Altogether: Oh yeah yeah don't get any better

Oh yeah yeah wish that this was forever

Cause your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling

And it's a celebration,

Feels like a celebration

Cause your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling down, down, down.

Vex: See I know it's getting late

Only wish the sun would wait

Spike: And let this party last a little longer, yeah.

Fumes: See I know love it comes and goes

But this right here

Shakes: I don't think that I ever want to let it go

I wish I would've known….

Spike: All this talk about being in love

I could never get into the party

Now I understand only because

You show me the way

And I was like...

Suddenly, twelve cannons fired a whole mess of confetti simultaneously and made a surprising finish for the song. Pinkie took out a sign with a '10' on it, approving the idea.

Altogether: Oh yeah yeah don't get any better

Oh yeah yeah wish that this was forever

Your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling

And it's a celebration,

Feels like a celebration

Cause your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling down, down, down.

Whoa down, down, down

Whoa down, down, down

Your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling down, down, down.

Whoa down, down, down

Whoa down, down, down

Cause your heart calling

Feels like confetti falling down, down, down.

"Encore! Encore!" The Cutie Mark Crusaders and several villagers chorused while the others clapped and cheered for the dragons' performance. The dragons' mates then joined them and kissed them long and tenderly, Twilight smiling happily when seeing Spike and Sally enjoying themselves.

"_I might miss you alot at home, Spike, but it's obvious your happiness is here. And your happiness is mine as well."_ Twilight shook her head. "_Except when I have to clean up Derpy's messes."_

"_Give her time, Twi. She'll get better." _Spike replied via the Mind Stone, and then smiled both at Twilight and Sally. "_I know I did."_

And a few days later, when the ponies and Discord returned to Equestria, Twilight knew, more than ever, than her little brother was in the right place...

CRASH!

"Sorry.."

… and that she needed to buy more resistant furniture.

**- The End.**

***Disclaimer:** The song 'Confetti Falling' is sung by Big Time Rush which is owned by the Columbia/Epic Label Group, I have no ownership of it in anyway possible.


End file.
